Brightest Day, Darkest Night
by LilithRyoka
Summary: Konata has seen the darker side of humanity, what they're capable of. Being the same as them is the last thing she wants, apart from getting killed, and so, she slowly decides to change her future. Konami later on.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer : I do not own any of Lucky Star Characters, nor any of the DC Universe Characters.

This story was something kept hidden in the depths of my mind for a few years now, and only today I summoned the courage to write it. It WILL have lots of gruesome deaths, graphical violence, só if you don't like it, don't read it. Anyway, onwards with the story!

Io0oI

The Black Raven Pub was rather famous between criminals for the security it provided for the shady meetings it hosts almost every hour. Day upon day, hundreds of criminals walked through those black wooden doors, quickly finding a safe spot to do whatever they need to do, safe from the police, mercenaries, or whoever they had on their back. The perfect place for Hughes Barkley to hold his meeting. Of course, he didn't like that place, didn't like it at all. Way too shady, way too safe, he thought, having goosebumps since he stepped inside the bar. He felt something dark within that bar, something evil. Like he walked right inside the devil's mouth, and now could do nothing but to wait for it to close, sinking his sharp teeth in his flesh.

"Yo, earth to Hughes, come back, man! We ain't got all day!," shouted a man to his left, Engineer Williams Stuart. He was a tall, dark skinned man, with strong muscles hidden behind his black hoody and baggy jeans. He showed not one of the concerns Hughes clearly had written in his face, instead he had a huge smile, filled with yellow teeth.

"Sorry, lost my train of thoughts for a moment there, Will."

"No worries man, just tell us what you got. I'm needing some serious cash, let's just hope this works out, 'kay?," said Will, his voice overall friendly and carefree to everyone. Not to Hughes. He knew Will for far too long for this hidden threat to go unnoticed. No, he knew if nothing went right, he would be in for a world of pain. Will's friends would make sure of that.

"Right., " looking around, he was pleased to see that everyone was paying attention to him. "Here's the deal. I got some information telling me that Wayne Enterprises are to perform some tests here in Tokyo. Expensive stuff, as you all should know now. I didn't get the information about what exactly it was, but for they to be testing here, in Japan of all places, it must be really important. "

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!," yelled Will, wide brown eyes staring at him. " Wayne Enterprises? Man, this is wrong! Their security is flawless! No one has stolen from them before. Are you mad?"

Hughes smiled, knowing quite well what they would be facing in this little scheme. Combat Drones, traps and heavily armored guards would be only the beginning. Yes, he knew quite well what they would face. Yet it was worth it, or at least he thought it was worth it. _I'm going to get rich selling those weapons blueprints_, thought him, before finishing his speech.

"That's where you come in, Will. You gotta find us a way through, we'll deal with what's inside later. Anyway, here's the deal...," he paused, for a few seconds, earning funny looks and worried glances. It was there, he thought. Somewhere, in that room, something was watching their every move. His sweat indicated fear, and his eyes were now wide. Not good.

The light flickered for a bit too long, and he was starting to regret paying that extra cash for a hidden room beneath the pub. It flickered once again, and every single one of them had worried expressions on their faces. Some had their hands inside their jackets. Probably holding their weapons, thought Hughes, without much surprise. And, suddenly, the lights went out, and he was now wishing he had a weapon to hold, like the others.

Hughes expected people shouting, chairs falling to the ground and loud steps all around the room. Instead, what he heard was absolute silence. Everything was calm for a few moments. _Damn owner must have forgotten to pay his bills again, fuck, _thought Hughes, actually starting to calm down. There was nothing there, he kept telling himself, there's no way there was someone there with them. He took every single step to avoid that.

And just when he about to open his mouth, something fell on the floor, heavily. And as suddenly as it started, the loud sounds of gunshots echoed through the room, every flash of light both clarifying and blinding.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit...SHIT!," screamed the man, as he ran to the nearest wall. That was not supposed to happen, he thought, his heart beating almost way to loudly in his chest. In fear, Hughes covered both his eyes and ears, in hope of a quick end to whatever hell was happening there.

After several minutes, the room fell into absolute silence yet again. Once he realized the lights were on again, he risked open his eyes, wishing to find most of the people he called staring at the unknown threat, laughing as they always seemed to do. What greeted him, however, was the many corpses of his co-workers. His friends. The coppery smell of blood mixed with the smokes of gunpowder and his own piss and that terrible sight made him vomit all over the floor. His sweat was pouring heavily from his bald head, ruining his expensive brown suit.

Hughes felt his head spinning, not daring to look at the corpses another time. The man tried to stand up, to run from that accursed place, but as soon as he stepped, he slipped in a pool made of blood, piss and vomit, and he fell head on in the wet floor.

"Whoever is there, whoever...did this," the bald started, trying desperately to get out of that place alive. "Please, let me live! I...I have money! Yes, lots of money! I can pay you well! Just...," his voice died when he heard someone walking his way. _It_ was walking his way, he thought. Lifting his face upwards, what was there was by no means scary, a really small person wearing baggy black jeans, a grey hoody was covering its face. It stopped right in front of him, and he was suddenly stiff, rigid as a rock, afraid of moving even a finger.

"Pathetic...," said the figure with a high-pitched voice. The lack of emotions in it making the man more scared than he already was. "You don't even deserve my blade," it said, with the slightest drop of hatred in it. Shivers ran across his spine, as his captor slowly took a pistol from his back with his left hand. The devilish grin he sported did nothing to try to hide the _satisfaction_ he was feeling, and that only weighted more in Hughes fears. First, he pointed, taking his time, then came the flash, blinding the coward man, and finally, the sound. And the pain. It was so intense, that he could not even scream, instead he found himself trashing in the floor, without the capability of even understand where has he been shot.

Death was nothing like he always imagined, thought him for the last time. There was no light in the end of the tunnel, no stairway to heaven - or hell -, nothing. He was alone, in the midst of total darkness, his only friends were his own pain and fears. As the trashing stopped, so did Hughes Barkley's life, as his face twisted in pain and fear, his suit dirty with his blood and his lack of dignity. The perfect ending for someone like him, thought his assassin darkly.

He spared the man one last look, and started to walk towards the room, answering the call from his communicator.

" Moshi moshi?, ", he began, in Japanese. " Ah, Boss! Yes, yes, job's done. Expecting my payment within this week, eh? Nah, it was very easy " He looked at the massacre she had caused " Don't worry, just got shot in the right arm, gonna treat it soon. Meet ya in the meeting place. Bye bye~ " his voice sang as he slipped the communicator back inside his pocket, with a sigh. That was going to hurt in the morning, he thought, as he left the room, blending inside the crowding and disappearing.

Io0oI

Izumi Konata grudgingly woke up at 14:30 after being mercilessly assaulted by her digital clock's alarm for nearly thirty minutes. Throwing away the blue comforters covering her bed, she risked glancing at the window with her left eye, the other still happily shut with sleep. The bright sun entering her room quickly caused it to shut again in a painful way, the girl was never a morning person, after all. _What day is today,_ was the first thing to cross the otaku's mind, followed quickly by the fact that she already lost two of her favorite animes, a terrible fact, as it left her gaping at the wall, wondering how that had happened.

Everything was perfectly planned, she would wake up at 13:00, and quickly turn on her TV, only stopping at 15:00 to have lunch. Sleep be damned, she cursed. Both eyes now adjusted to the brightness of the room, she spared her arm a quick look, just to see if there was no blood in it. The bandages were dry. Good. She still had no idea how she had been shot, she usually was so careful in a job. Or at least she thought she was careful. _Oh, well, not gonna help it heal faster. Wonder what Kagami is doing,_ wondered the blue haired girl, her lips curving in a smile, one of those sweet ones their friends rarely saw.  
Picking up her phone number, her fingers blurred by the speed with which she dialed her friend's number.

After a few rings, someone answered the phone.

"Hello, Hiiragi Residence, who is it?," it answered, and Konata recognized Kagami's voice behind the line. Of course, she could recognize the other girl's voice almost everywhere, for that matter.

"Oh, Kagamin! 'Morning!," she answered, cheerfully yet still a little bit sleepy. That fact reinforced by the huge yawn that followed.

" Osu, Konata!," the bluenette could almost see the smile on her friend's face. _Oh, that smile...,_she trailed, lost in thoughts. " Konata? Oi, blue haired midget, don't call me and leave me hanging on the phone!"

"Huh? Oh! Sorry, sorry, Kagamin, was too busy imagining the smile you made at the phone.," answered Konata, her own smile growing larger, twisting in her signature cat-like grin.

"H...How did you know? Wait, wait, don't answer that, it's probably something too weird to even think about. Anyway, what did you want?," answered the lilac haired girl, sporting a small blush on her face. It was still a mistery to Kagami how could she tell when she was smiling or blushing, but it really didn't matter, she thought, those singular sweet moments weren't enough for the hell that blue devil made her pass everyday in the past. Ah, if she could only believe her own thoughts. Truth is, she really missed Konata.

"Was bored, how is college going?"

"Eh, pretty good, actually. History is actually pretty fun, and Tsukasa is doing well on her Gastronomy college, even if that's not such a surprise. What about you, what have you been doing? You never told me if you were studying. Heh, I guess all you do everyday is sit on that chair of yours playing your games with Nanako, eh, Konata?"

"Whoah, bull's eye, Kagamin, I'm touched you know me so well. Good work, Padawan!," cheered the otaku, giving her window a thumbs up.

"Wait, you seriously gave up on studying?," asked Kagami, rubbing her temples. _The nerve...she asked for help with studying so many times, for nothing?, _thought the girl, disappointed. Of course, she didn't mind at all all the times she went to the otaku's house, she loved spending time with her. Loved? Hm...yes, she quite loved spending time with Konata, thought Kagami.

"Eh, doesn't matter, Kagamin, don't stick to the boring topics! Say, wanna come here today? If you're free, I mean. "

"Sure, why not. When should I go?"

"How about right now?," if possible, her grin grew even more.

"Right now, hm. Let's see...Okay, just give me some moments to fix my hair up and I will be on my way."

"Fixing yourself for me, Kagamin? Don't forget that red lipstick I gave you last year, you know I love it," purred Konata.

"Sh...Shut up! It just happen to be my last lipstick!" lied the embarrassed girl, the redness on her face spreading up to her ears.

"Sure, sure, kagamin~! Aw, how cute, you're blushing.," giggling sounds could be heard, and with a few shouts, the line was dead. Oh, how she loved teasing Kagami, it was the only thing she missed from High School. That and Miyuki's breasts, but she could live without those huge, soft mounds, _so soft..._, trailed the girl, lost in her own imaginary world.

"Okay, now how am I going to explain this to her...?," asked the girl to no one in particular, while she used her free time to hide anything suspicions in her room. It took her less than 30 minutes to clean everything, and she was quite pleased with the result. Just as she was about to turn her computer on, she heard the doorbell.  
Kagami was already there.

" Oh crap.," she said, looking at the bandages in her arm.

She would have a hard time explaining that, a hard time indeed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer : I do not own any of Lucky Star Characters, nor any of the DC Universe Characters that may or may not appear in this comic.**

Sorry for the time it took me to write this, I had a sort of Writer's block, and had to re-think about, well, the whole story. I will try to release chapters more rapidly from now on, but I won't promise it. Onwards with the story!

IoOoI

"Oh crap," was all Konata had time to mutter before she started to circle her own room, trying to find anything at least decent to wear. In a few seconds, she was able to find some black shorts, just baggy enough for her to find it comfortable, and a white T-shirt with the single image of a blue giant drop of water in the front. Satisfied with her comfort, she walked to the door, trying to calm her mind. After all, she had not seen Kagami's face in almost, what, two years? Way too much time, she thought sadly, way too much time.

How had she changed? Has she grown? Does her face still flares up when she is around her, or when she teases her? Insecurity was flowing through the girl's brain, and she did not like it.

With her heart trumping loudly in her chest, she opened the door, and there, outside, she saw someone. Not her Kagamin, she thought, unless she underwent surgery to become a middle-aged man, traded her luscious purple hair for a bald head, and just happened to be her Boss. One of them, at least.

"What do you want...?," asked the girl, sighing in both relief and annoyance. At least she would have more time to prepare herself for Kagami, she thought, as if more time would make her less insecure.

The man stood there, with an annoyed look on his face, as he took out a white communicator from one of his purple suit's pocket, tapping at the screen as if it was her duty to see it and understand.

And see it she did, crossing her eyes as to read what was printed in the small object's screen.

_Fox, 36 unanswered calls._

Face-palming herself, she looked at him with an apologetic expression, pointing at her bandaged arm as if it would make as an excuse. It would, if she was lucky.

That was not the case.

"You know," he started, his deep and scratchy voice never ceasing to halt every thought going on inside her head. She quietly wondered, as she always did, if he was some sort of Empath. "He can't afford sending someone, sending **me** to check if you're okay every single time you forget your comm in whatever the hell you forgot it this time."

If she was happy before, she surely wasn't happy now, as being scolded by him was never high on her happiness list.

"Don't make me do this again," he threatened her, grabbing the collar or her shirt with some strenght, shaking her as if to make his words get inside her head. "You know how little patience I have for you, and I swear, if you weren't one of our best agents, I would have killed you already with my own hands," he spat, literally, at her face, anger printed on his wrinkled face. The blue haired girl didn't even flinch.

Instead, she grabbed his own arm with strenght enough for him to remember that, despite her being a pretty small woman, she was still stronger than him in every way.

"John," she began, glaring daggers at him, her grip tightening. "Don't forget the many times I saved you, despite your stealing and killing without reason to."

If John, a.k.a " Boss ", wasn't so strict about his drinking issue, he would think, for a moment, that he was drunk, for he started to see whirlwinds dancing inside Konata's eyes, so fast that he quickly found himself unable to stare outside those green swirling orbs.

Her face started to shatter in living pieces of meat and skin, falling to the ground and burning in the darkest of flames, and from the very core of the flames he could see a bald man, trying to give him money, he saw the flash of a gunshot, he heard it, he saw it when the bullet penetrated the man's suit, breaking the skin, piercing the meat, shattering his bones and he _felt_ it happening to him too. He panted, holding his chest as if to protect his heart from leaping forward, sweating. And just as quickly as his vision started, it was gone, and he was looking again to Konata. A somewhat angry Konata.

"That, John, was Hughes Barkley, the man you had me killing yesterday, despite my telling you that I didn't want more jobs like this. I thought I made myself clear when I said I wanted recon missions alone, _John_, but no, you had me kill another criminal, another human being." she spat at him, a single tear crossing her face, contrasting with her anger. Three hours she spent trying to convince her superiors to send her everything but missions that would require her to kill, they knew how she hated it, and yet they sent her.

The bald man stepped backwards, getting away from that girl, that demon, he thought." Whether you like it or not, you're still one of the best. We cannot...afford to lose someone with your expertise," he said, taking his time to fix up his suit and wipe away the sweat on his shiny head. He looked at her, and smiled a teethless smile, way too smug for the girl's taste. "And you sounded like you enjoyed it yesterday when you reported the job."

"Listen...just, go away, okay? I'm expecting someone today, someone much more important than your baldy self," she said, almost holding back a giggle when he frowned and stared at her face, or at her hair, she could not tell." One more mission, and I will quit. And don't make that face, you know I'm serious."

The old man shrugged, and pressed a button on his own communicator, and suddenly he was covered in waves of red light, his smirk now appearing.

"No one can leave Chimera, Fox. You should know that better than anyone...," his voice trailed, as his figure disappeared from the front of Konata's house, leaving her somewhat awestruck. _They finally developed their teleportation system__?_, she thought, her confront with the man now but forgotten inside her mind, taking on some more pressing thoughts, like when would she see her Kagamin again, and what game system should she put on. Shrugging, she went inside, and with a grin, she ran all the way to her bedroom, and with a small yelp of happiness she jumped in the bed, yawning lightly at its softness. _Maybe a quick nap will sort everything out,_ she thought, barely supressing another intrusing yawn with her hands, as her sight fell into darkness, and her mind, into purple heaven.

IoOoI

There were many things that could make Hiiragi Kagami impatient, and Konata was among the top five. Especially when she called her and left her waiting at the door for more than five minutes. Sighing, she pressed the doorbell for the fifth time, quietly praying for the gods to hear her pleas, and kick that goddamned Otaku in the butt. A smile crept into her face as she imagined it, soon followed by a small giggle. That ended rather quickly, when, again, nothing appeared in front of her. Literally steaming with rage and impatience, she kicked the door with unneeded strenght, lots of it, she thought, as the door flew open, hitting the wall.

"Oops."

"Excuse me," said Kagami, rather lamely, to absolutely no one in sight, which was weird. Usually, this house was full of life, light, and the sounds of pictures being taken. What greeted her, however, was a dark, dusty and soundless house. Soundless, except for light snoring sounds, probably coming from her bedroom, she thought. 2 years without seeing each other, and finally when they get the chance, she sleeps! _How dare that...that...!_

Stepping, quietly, the purple haired girl made her way to her friend's bedroom, trying to figure out how would she punish her. As she entered Konata's bedroom, she could see the other girl sleeping on the bed, her messy hair falling to the ground, together with limbs and most of the girl's comforter. That, she thought, was pretty normal. But those bandages on her arm weren't, as she had never seen Konata actually get hurt, to see her in the need of those...

"What happened, Konata...?" she asked, softly, as she walked towards the otaku's bed, to get a better view of her friend. Despite her clothes and the blue sea that seemed to cover the girl - and most of her bed -, Kagami could still see some bits of skin here and there, and she would blush, had she not seen the many scars that covered them. Scars that seemed old, yet she clearly remember her skin to be scarless._ Soft and perfect and...Ugh, I can literally feel that blush now._

Pushing those thoughts away, and taking some moments to pull herself together, she finally touched one of those scars, just under her navel, tracing it lightly, as to let the other girl sleep.

She could very well feel her face and neck burning, and she could predict how awkward this situation would be if the very girl she was touching was to wake up right now._ Awkward to me, at least, she would probably enjoy it, and make the rest of my day a living hell with her teasing,_ thought the girl, frowning if but a bit. She knew those scars were real, yet she still had to touch them, feel the differences in the skin, she had to believe.

"Mmmh, Kagamin, I know you couldn't wait to get your hands on me, but you could have waited for me to wake up..." mumbled the blue mass, sleepily, barely containing a huge yawn.

" Konata!" literally screamed said girl, jumping off the bed "When did you...Did I wake you up?" _Smooth, Kagami, really smooth._

"Hmm, you helped" she flashed one of those cat smiles, before another intruding yawn interrupted her.

She couldn't help but smile at the sleepy blue haired girl, even after all this time she still seemed like the same old Konata. Of course, thought Kagami as she eyed the girl, she did grow a bit. Looked more mature, more feminine. Definetly more athletic. And the scars...

"How did you get those...?" asked her, in a faint whisper, as her finger trailed yet again one of her scars.

"Too sleepy, will tell you later." replied her, sounding sleepy indeed.

"Oh...okay..."

"Kagamin?"

"Hm?"

"Missed you." and with that she smiled, and despite her messy state, Kagami couldn't help but think that she had never seen Konata look better. And to Konata, Kagami had never been so red.

"What?" asked the embarassed girl when giggling sounds filled the room. Of course, said giggling sounds stopped when the source received a rather painful smack in the head.

The girls then proceeded to talk about the past, remembering the " Good old times ", as Konata said, imitating an old woman rather well. The conversation led to hungry, and quickly deciding to bake something, Konata ran to the kitchen, leaving Kagami alone in her bedroom.

Out of boredom, she decided to look around, finally allowing her mind to absorve what was around her, and, again, she was met by the unexpected. There were no piles upon piles of comics or games on the floor, or bed, or, well, about everywhere. It almost felt like a normal room, but she could see the many posters that filled Konata's walls, and lots of action figures, that and a single round thing to her left, probably made of metal or plastic, she couldn't tell.

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_

" What the..." said Kagami, startled. She definitely was not expecting it to start beeping at her randomly, and in her shock, she found that it didn't want to stop. Groaning, she picked it up, realizing it was some kind of cell phone. Much to her surprise, the metallic surface of the communicator was replaced with a small screen. Black, at first, but quickly regaining color and shape, showing the face of a young woman. Her eyes, focused somewhere Kagami could not see, were small and brown, and her face was round, sporting a small nose, and lips covered in black lipstick. Her brown hair was cut short, way too short for it to look cute, she thought, it must have been for functionality.

"Fox? You got another mission tonight, 2000 at the meeting place, got...it...? " her voice, sounding robotic through the device, trailed on as her eyes locked up with Kagami's.

Then, the brown haired girl panicked, and the screen went off, leaving a somewhat flabbergasted Kagami sitting in bed, thoughts racing so fast inside her head she couldn't even decide which one she needed to attend to first.

"What the..."

"Kagamin? What are you doi..." she heard the voice trailing behind her, "Oh. What are you doing with that?"

Slowly turning around, Kagami could see a frowning Konata, her grip on the metallic tray that was surely holding delicious treats a little too strong and stiff. She was confused, was that thing important? Who was the girl on the device's screen? Who is Fox? With her mind blazing, she asked the thing she thought was the most important.

"Konata?"

"Yes?" came the answer, way too fast, and Kagami could swear she heard a bit of nervousness pouring over her friend's voice. Probably her imagination, she thought, dismissing the idea.

"Who and what is " Fox " ?"

What followed, was yet another surprise for the lilac-haired girl. Konata actually looked thoughtful and serious, as if she was pondering, trying to find the best answer to give the girl. She was relieved when the business-like expression faded from the older girl's face, replaced with a grin, her eyes now closed.

"Fox is my IGN, Kagamin."

"Your what?"

"My in-game nick, the nickname I'm now using on my online games."

"...Oh."

"Disappointed, Kagamin?"

"You...you could say that." she answered truthfully, she was expecting something way bigger than just her In-game nick. And "Fox". She almost giggled at how fitting it was for Konata.

"You probably saw a girl too, right?" the startled look in the younger girl's face was all Konata needed to continue. "She was a friend of mine, she is the tanker and I'm the DPS. She was probably talking about a mission, right? This game of ours keeps a kind of events callendar, so she was reminding me of a Raid we need to go through. Lots of high-end equipments, and lots of experience!" she finished, throwing her arms in the air as if she just acquired some sort of major achievement.

Kagami could only stare as the girl spewed useless knowledge, and she fairly sure she would be brainwashed if Konata was allowed to talk for another minute._ Ouch, my head..._

"So...," Konata began, her cheerful smile now replaced with her usual sly grin. "Are you going to eat any of those, or will I have to throw away them, after all that hard work I had preparing them especially for my Kagamin-sama?"

Kagami quickly turned her face to the right, using the purple locks of her hair to hide her rising blush, saying nothing more than a "Shut up.", earning a smile from Konata. "I'm glad you didn't change, Kagamin," she said, in a somewhat sweet tone, albeit a little sad.

"Konata...?" she asked, surprising herself with how fast her tone changed from embarassed to concerned._ It's her fault,_ she thought,_ soon enough she will drive me insane._

She sat by her side, holding the metallic tray that contained a plate full of simple oatmeal cookies. Simple, yet delicious, she thought. "Go ahead," she offered, "They won't bite you."

"Hah, hah, very funny." answered her, as she took one of the cookies, looking suspiciously at it. After about, what, 5 seconds of looking, Kagami gave up and took a testing bite of the treat, and was surprised - well, not so much - to find out their simple, yet delicious and comforting taste.

"Those are..." she began, now too busy chewing the whole cookie, savoring the flavor. "Really good, Konata!" she then grinned, after licking her lips to clean any remaining cookie crumbs. "Glad you're good at cooking, otherwise you'd be just about useless!" she finished with a larger grin, mocking the older girl.

"Useless, eh, Kagamin? Are you sure?" she answered, striking a tang of curiosity from her friend. She was expecting Konata to frown and mumble something while pouting, or reply in kind, like she used to do.

"What do you mean?"

"Well," she began, wetting her lips after the pause. "I could always have hidden...qualities that you're not aware of, Kagamin." she said, tone a tad too sweet for Kagami's taste. She knew Konata was trying to bait her into a trap, but she could not do a thing, for her curiosity was already trapping her, one way or another. "Oh, and what kind of qualities are we talking about? Since it's you we're talking about, it's probably something otaku-related, like cosplay or something, right?"

Konata didn't answer right away, instead, she leaned against Kagami, leaving her more than a little uncomfortable. She'd always feel that way when the blue-haired girl started to get too close, even though she never really understood why. It was one of the many thoughts that swirled inside her mind, and one of the few she rightfully chose to ignore. Her mind was driven to a sudden halt, however, when she realized how really close they were. Their bodies were more than just lightly touching now, Konata was practically on top of her, and she could smell the sweet aroma of chocolate literaly oozing from the older girl. With each hot breath that greeted her face and neck, she felt goosebumps rising from the tips of her toes to her neck, and that felt absolutely delicious, and that terrified her.

"Ko...Konata...?" she said, a little alarmed, and more than a little flustered, her heart was beating way too fast for her tastes, she felt as if her stomach had twisted in many knots, and her face was in flames.

"Shh, Kagamin..." she said in a quiet, seductive tone, one that Kagami never heard before. It made her face burn more as she started to get more nervous, so nervous she was starting to sweat._ Just what is she doing_, kept thinking Kagami, afraid that if those thoughts stopped, other thoughts, more embarassing ones, would surely follow in. "Just close your eyes..." she said in that tone again, and she felt as if she could not disobey it, not even if she wanted. Her eyes closed with the printed image of Konata's face getting closer in her mind, and a thousand butterflies started flying inside her stomach. She waited, and waited for something she was not quite sure to come, but the only thing that greeted her was the loud laughing of her friend, who was now rolling in the bed, holding her stomach.

Her flustered state was quickly forgotten, the red of her face and ears now because of anger. _That little annoying midget...UGH! She tricked me! I can't believe it, and I fell for it with such gusto,_ raced her mind, as she prepared to pounce on her unsuspecting prey, and, literally growling in anger and frustration, she pounced on Konata, quickly holding and immobilizing the now quiet girl's hands.

"Not so funny now, is it?" she said, a smug grin slowly appearing to mock her prisoner.

And to Kagami's surprise, she grinned, one of those "You fell for my trap again" grins. "It's always fun to see you blushing, Kagamin" she said almost dreamily, never breaking eye contact. "But I didn't know you liked these kinds of games, Kagamin...Please be gentle." she finished shyly and quietly, her hands now covering her face, and although Kagami knew that was an act, she couldn't help but feel a little nervous. _She looks so innocent...No, wait, she is everything but innocent! Concentrate!_ she ordered inside her mind as a captain would to to his soldiers. And was with that thought in mind that she realized she no longer kept Konata's hands in check, as they were now covering her faux blush. _When and how did she do that__?_ thought Kagami, perplexed, for she clearly remembered using enough strenght to hold even her father's arms in place. She didn't look like, but when she wanted she could be quite strong for a girl of her age, and for he lack of martial training. Or any training, for that matter.

"Surprised, Kagami?" said the now free girl through her hands. "I said I could have some hidden qualities, didn't I?" moving her hands from her face to cup one of Kagami's cheeks, she showed her one of those big smiles again, and the lilac haired girl could feel all her anger, confusion, everything that swarmed her head slowly melt away under the gaze of the happiness her friend was showing, despite all that happened.

"Yeah...I guess you really have something under that thick gamer's head of yours, huh...?" she couldn't help but smile in return.

"So..." Konata begun, looking at somewhere ahead of Kagami's head. "When did you had to leave again? It's pretty late now..."

"Eh?" she said, and Konata couldn't help but snicker at how she looked like Tsukasa in that moment. Turning her head to gaze at whatever the other girl was looking at, she saw a digital clock, and was shocked. It was already 20:45. It was already night, and she didn't even realize it._ Oh, mom is going to kill me for not telling her I was going to be out 'til so late!_

The blue haired girl just watched with a smirk as Kagami leaped from the bed to the floor in an unlady-like way, and scrambled through the room, grabbing two cookies from the tray and shouting a quick "See you later, Konata!", followed by heavy stepping, and the loud sound of the door closing, or smashing, she couldn't really tell.

"Way to ruin a sweet moment" the girl said to no one in particular, face now sobering from all the fun she had with her friend. Best Friend. Unfortunately for Konata, such time was already way too limited without her bosses appearing out of nowhere and giving her craploads of assignments. She cringed at that thought, she was beginning to fall into the same pit every single one of her comrades had fallen, she was beginning to think of life as nothing more than a job. She had to get away, from her job, from Chimera, from everything. Everything except Kagami. And maybe some mangas, that wouldn't hurt, too.

And, like every single time she caught herself thinking that, her communicator started to beep like crazy, begging for her attention. Sighing, she grabbed it and flipped it open, hopefully wanting for it to be Kira's face to appear through the static mess of the screen.

"Fox, do you copy? Do you copy?" came a familiar, feminine voice that caused a rush of relief in Konata's mind.

"Yes, I'm here Kira, and I still don't understand why you're still so formal with me. Thought we were friends?"

"Yes, we're, Fox, and I told you not to call me by my given name, someone could be listening!" answered the girl quickly, her face now appearing in the screen, eyes covered by her brown hair.

"If someone was listening, they'd know it now that you told them." she smirked as Kira's face became hidden by a facepalm. "So, what do I have to do now?"

"Oh, right. Just a moment." she said, typing in something that vaguely remembered a notebook. "That earlier job, with the Hughes guy, do you remember what they were after?"

"Yeah, something hidden in one of the experimental Wayne Enterprises labs. Why?"

"Your job is to infiltrate in said lab and steal whatever they were after to."

"So no one will attempt to steal it again?" she was almost disgusted by the sense of hope in her voice, for she already knew what would be the answer. She always did.

"Err...no, so we have the technology."

"No surprises here" she sighed. "When do I have to deliver whatever I will find there?"

"Confident as always, heh? Don't worry, you have 'til tomorrow, 00:00 to deliver it. Good hunting" and with that, the screen went dead.

"I want vacations too..." she whined tiredly to no one in particular, suddenly feeling very sleepy. Yawning, the girl turned off the lights and rested her head in her pillow, closing her eyes slowly, as if to savor the moment, and embracing the darkness as if it was a part of her, a part still untouched by the world's cruelty, where that particular ray of hope could still glow at its brightest. And as she was slowly dragged to the world of dreams, the only image remaining in her mind was that of her shiny ray of hope.

Of her Kagamin.

IoOoI

Whew, that took me a while. Since I had to think about the story as a whole and re-do it, I decided to change its rating to T, since I will not include something extremely shocking or gruesome to deserve the M rating.

As you can realize by now, I'm mostly using the DC Universe, and not the characters, although some of them will appear in this comic, and some of them will have an important role, they're just secondary characters, the primary ones being Konata and Kagami.

As Omegahugger said, it will be hard to maintain the series' original feeling, with Konata being a mercenary and everything. She WILL have emotional backlashes, as you saw in this chapter, she is emotionally unstable, as she tries to remain as human as possible while still doing her job. I won't spoil much of this fanfiction's future, but a major struggle in this story will be Konata's attempt to leave Chimera, the Mercenary organization she works for.

Well, no more explanations, see you all next chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer : I do not own any of Lucky Star Characters, nor any of the DC Universe Characters that may or may not appear in this comic or yadda yadda yadda.**

**IoOoI**

It was an uneventful night for Takamura Hiro, just as every single night had been for the last months. Already on his forties, and one of Wayne Enterprises senior guards, it was exactly what he had hoped for his last assignment. Bland, and without overpowered kids and crazed old men trying to break through the gates of the Experimental Lab just to steal something that would lead them to another embarrassing defeat in the hands of the Justice League.

Twenty years into his job, and still he could not understand what passed through the villain's heads to try their chances at one of the most protected corporations in the whole word.

Not that he gave it much thought, though.

But twenty years working for the corporation earned him some insight as to how they work, and tonight something seemed off. The increase in security had doubled in the past few days, as if someone had been expecting an attack or theft. He prayed to every single god he knew that was not the case. Just a few more weeks, and I can retire. Just a few more weeks, he kept thinking, draining the power he needed to live through the job from the plans he had for the future. His wife had been wanting to visit Hawaii, and he would finally be free - and rich enough - to realize her wishes. They would be happy again, and his children would stop hating him from being an absent father. Everything would be alright, he thought. In his mind, he could already see that huge smile on his wife's face as she showered him with kisses and told him how much she loved him, and then his children would all hug him, his family would be completed.

Just a few more weeks, rang again his mantra.

**IoOoI**

"Oh, karma, why do you hate me so?" asked a lone, shadowy figure on top of a building's roof, said building being, coincidentally, the third experimental lab owned by Wayne Enterprises. Looking around, the figure tried to find some shelter for the rain that poured hard on the city, failing miserably to locate it.

Sighing, it reached into the right pocket of what seemed to be a traditional beige trench coat, and pulled a single round piece of painted black metal, flipping it open easily. The screen quickly came to life, showing the familiar face of a brunette, looking positively distracted by something. Probably one of her gigantic piles of paper work, snickered the shadowy being, a blue ocean of dripping wet hair covering most of the front of its trench coat, giving its identity away quite easily for those who knew it.

"Fox here, ready to roll." she said, grinning at the screen as the girl panicked and almost fell, her papers flying everywhere. "Good morning, Kira." mocked the

After a few moments of tidying the desk - and her clothes -, the brown haired girl came into view once again, frowning.

"Damn, girl! I told you not to scare me like this again, you know I don't like it," said Kira, looking around to see if no one was nearby to hear her talking. Satisfied once she realized there was no one else in the room, she looked at her monitor again, the grin printed in her friend's face never wearing off. Intoxicating as it is, she couldn't help but smile slightly, too.

"Rain pestering you much? Thank god I have this warm, comfy office all for me, don't you think? Air-conditioner, a nice, soft chair, and a..." she trailed on, bringing her face closer to the monitor so the only part of her face showing in Konata's comm unit were her glossy lips. "Com-pu-ter" she finished, slowly, giggling when she saw the reaction she got. The girl's face was contorted in between a frown and a pout, and to finish it off, she blew the brunette a raspberry and sticked her tongue out.

"Just wait until we have a field assignment together again, just you wait!" whined the mercenary with a childish voice, pouting cutely.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry"

"...And?"

"And? And...uh...I will buy you ice cream tomorrow, that sounds good?"

"From the usual place?" she asked, eyes shining in hope.

The girl seemed to think really hard about it, then just sighed and smiled again.

"Yeah, and you can get as much as you like, too."

"Yeah!" screamed Konata as she jumped in joy, landing in a victory pose from one of her games, the ice cold rain now long forgotten.

"You sure do recover fast, huh?" mused Kira, feeling like she was tricked once again by the girl. Well, it's not like I can help it, she looks so adorable. Maybe I should adopt her, she thought, chuckling. And it was right then that she remembered they had work to do, and so her expression fell into a more suitable, business-like one. "Are you in position?"

"Yes, waiting for your report." answered Fox, face now emotionless, a shell created to help her cope with her work. It is always easier to shoot someone when you don't feel anything, she remembered.

"Good. They have about...twenty guards inside, and two turrets guarding the prize. Nothing special about them, though. Any requests?"

"Hm." she said, thinking. The guards were no problem, she could hand them easily, but her most trusted skills were almost useless against the turrets' sensors. And she really, really didn't want another gun shot wound. One was already enough, even though it was now completely healed. "Can I get an EMP strike right above the lab, say, 500 meters? Won't risk the integrity of the mission with those turrets. They might be more lethal than we know. It is the technological branch, after all."

"Sure thing, Fox. Anything else?"

"Nah, I can handle the rest. Thanks, Kira. What's the ETA?" asked the bluenette, already doing some stretches to be better prepared for the job.

"About five minutes, Fox. Kira out." The screen went dead, and for a moment she could swear Kira looked concerned. Well, gonna ask her later about it. Maybe tomorrow, yeah. With lots of ice cream...wait. Maybe...Maybe I can ask Kagamin, see if she wants to come with us. That would solidify her vision of Kira as a gamer...Nah, who am I kidding, I just want to eat Ice cream with her too, she thought, although that quickly escalated towards her eating ice cream off Kagami's body.

Reluctantly driving those thoughts away, the blue-haired otaku began her usual routine, after all, more important things mattered now, like getting whatever hell she needed to get here and run away in time to see the anime marathon of the week. Her eyes flaring with determination, her body stuck in an anime victory pose, Legendary Mercenary A sprung into action.

First she tucked the comm inside the left outside pocket, and then she took out a pair of black gloves from the insides of the trench coat, examining them for a quick moment, just to check. The thick and rigid exoskeleton gloves were still marked in several places with slashes, counting up to 25. Sighing in relief, she put her gloves on, flexing her fingers to test her gloves' strength. Satisfied, she looked to the sky, expecting to see at the very least some vague form of airship approaching by now.

Oh, and she was not disappointed.

As the ship approached more and more, she started to meditate with her eyes closed, burying her emotions and thoughts deep inside her mind, just like she trained so hard to do. As her eyes opened, Konata was fast asleep, and Fox was now in command. And she would complete her mission, no matter what.

**IoOoI**

Impatiently looking at his digital watch - a nice expensive looking Hugo Boss watch his wife had bought him when they were living in the United States - Hiro just wanted to go home. He was tired, bored, and above all, he was afraid. Of course his fears were irrational, they had to be, right? It was a foreign feeling to him, to feel such a gut-wrenching need to get the hell away from the lab and curl in his bed, hugging his wife with one hand and holding a revolver in the other, you know, just for safety.

The watch, however, was not aware of his wishes and needs, and just like the last time he looked, the shiny 21:35 was still glued to the screen. Of course, 30 seconds had passed, but just this once, couldn't time move faster? Since he and his family moved from Gotham to Tokyo, Hiro couldn't help but feel that his days were weeks, and his weeks were full years. Time moved so god damn slowly in this country that he felt he would never die of old age.

No one could, he thought, they couldn't bear their existences for such a long time. Security for boredom, it seemed a good trade back then. Hell, even his children liked the idea. "Japan? Yes, pappa! We'll eat sushi everyday and watch anime all day long, yeah!"

He snickered at the memories, and even though he cherished the safety of his family above everything else, he just missed the fast pace of the dark city. Meeting with the Super-heroes was another thing, too. He was, after all, a huge fan of Batman's.

And that was the first word he screamed when a huge explosion sounded just above the laboratory, breaking every single source of light in the whole building. His heart trumped inside his chest, and his eyes were darting in the complete darkness, trying desperatly to find a source of light, anything to set on besides pitch black. Every single guard in the building felt the same way, for loud screams and chatting soon filled the former still and quiet atmosfere.

They were trying in vain to find out what happened, but he knew what happened. Oh, he knew so very well, and that was what frightened him. Only an EMP could do such damage so fast, he thought, looking at his broken watch, or, well, where he thought it would be.

There was no such thing as a EMP accident, so only one option remained: The enemy, whoever were they, were going to attack soon. And by the looks of it, they were well prepared, too.

"Everyone!" he screamed, trying to get the attention of his comrades. "This is not a Drill! Stay focused, and expect an attack soon!"

The screams stopped, and everything was silent again. Good, he had their attention. Now the only thing left to do was wait, and hope they could best whatever was going to try to hit them.

He was starting to think that coming to work to day had been a bad, bad idea, and the painful heartbeats in his chest agreed entirely with him.

Fuck, I'm growing too old for this kind of crap, he thought, just before the shooting and the screaming started. Not controlled shooting, in single bursts like he knew every single one inside this building was trained to do, but a maddening chain of never ending shots, quickly filling the air with the smell of gunpowder and the thick, iron-like smell of blood. From instinct alone, he grabbed his own firearm, a Smith & Wesson's SW1911 semi-automatic pistol, and prepared for the worst. He knew something was coming in his direction, the agonizing screams and flashes of light were approaching fast, very fast.

His grip was hard, but his will was weak. He didn't want to risk losing his life, not now, in the very least. His head was filled with thoughts of survival and fear, and the mixture of smells invading his nostrils were both nauseating and distracting. He wanted to throw up and run away, to hell with the job, he thought. His life was more important. His family was more important. Everything was more important.

And so, with fear clouding his eyes, the thunderous beats of his heart filling his ears, and a numbness never before felt in his every limb, Takamura Hiro ran. With everything he got, he ran, ignoring his comrades' screams, or the gunshots flying in every direction. He could feel his legs were going to give up soon, but he ignored that, in the same way he ignored the mind-breaking pain going through his body.

Only survival mattered, and god forbid him, he would live through this.

Sadly, it was not the luckiest of days for Takamura Hiro, and he realized that when something strong and hard hit him in the head, throwing him directly into one of the walls of the facility. With his mind giving up to his fears and the immense pain he felt, he slowly drifted into unconsciousness, hoping for but a moment that whatever hit him spared his life in a last act of mercy.

The last thing he could see before fainting was a pair bright, green orbs looking directly into his eyes, that unforgiving stare he recognized in the face of every person who was used to killing, used to the pain and despair of having to end another life, and the words that came from the orb, so faint, nothing but a whisper, but it was the only thing he heard at the moment. That whisper that overwhelmed the shooting and the cries for help and pain, he would not forget it anytime soon.

"I'm sorry." was all he could hear before his world became black, and he felt the pain no longer.

**IoOoI**

Inside the corridors of the Experimental Laboratory, everything was silent. The shooting had stopped long ago, with the last guard falling to the ground, dead with a shot to his head. Everything was silent, except for a single, shadowy figure walking alone in the corridor. The hard steps of her black combat boots accentuated by the never ending pool of blood that filled the whole corridor, courtesy from the guards, she thought, grimly.

Even though she was still on the mission, Konata allowed herself to surface from her sleep once she knocked one of the guards down with a fast, well placed punch in the head. She could very well see in the dark, and his face was marked in the bluenette's brain, his fear and will to survive eminent in his bloody face. She could see the reflection of her cold eyes from his own, and that was enough for her to want Fox gone. But she had a mission, and she would have to complete it. That's what she kept thinking, as she walked across the hall, jumping the occasional dead body that rested on her way, and, hell, there were lots of bodies.

She counted, and counted, and the only conclusion she could reach was also the one conclusion she didn't want to accept. There were 20 bodies, including the one she herself knocked out, and there was little hope for their survival. It sickened to the core how practical and effective her skills could be, sometimes. She didn't even need to fight to create such chaos, such...destruction. All she had to do was invoke a single, powerful illusion, and the guards started to kill themselves, thinking their comrades were enemies. Sometimes her abilities scared her, but everything has two sides, that much she learned herself.

As well as it enabled her to play with other people's minds, destroy them slowly from inside with their greatest fears, it also enabled her to set watch on her most precious friends, to protect them without being seen.

In the last two years, she made several trips to Tsukasa's and Miyuki's apartment, to check on their well-being and to renovate the magical wards she herself placed, to keep them from harm. Several times she just stayed there, watching their friends live their happy lives, going to college, growing, hoping, dreaming.

Watching them making out was not bad, either.

She never once thought Tsukasa would be the Seme in their relationship, but seeing that she was talking about Miyuki, it only seemed...right. Of course, the pink haired girl had dominated her lover several times, but, she thought, there were far more times when the purple-haired girl was in control. Even in the situation she was in, Konata couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of them knowing she had watched their heated love-making sessions all those times.

But the chuckle died out when she saw the state of the last guard's body. Fighting her urge to vomit right there, she jumped over the disfigured corpse and walked her way towards one particular double door made of glass. She could read the words "Armory Experiments", and she knew she was on the right place. Okay, just walk in, get the stuff, and run like hell. Yeah, that will be easy, she assured herself as she walked inside, leaving the corridor of death behind.

Once inside the Armory, she quickly found out that the place was stuffed to the brim with way too many things, from weapons to hard drives, even something that resembled an umbrella. Sighing, she took the communicatro from her pocket, and flipped it open, happily noting that it remained intact even after the EMP strike. The screen quickly showed Kira's face, this time looking directly into the monitor, as if expecting her.

"Fox. Are you inside the Armory?" she asked, checking some papers as she spoke.

"Yeah. What am I supposed to get here?" confusion was evident in the bluenette's face. She just hoped it was one, or at least a few things. No way in hell she would run away from the place carrying all that stuff.

"Every single data disks and hard drives you can find, yes?"

"What about the weapons?" she asked, holding something that vaguely resembled a pistol in front of her communicator.

"Nah, you can leave them there. Or get them, if you want, we just need the data. They are not ready for use, after all. Experiments and everything, you know?"

"Yeah. Okay, Fox out." she said, closing the communicator and slipping it inside her pocket once again, throwing the pistol-thing away.

"Okay," she began, cracking her fingers through the gloves. "Let's find those disks."

**IoOoI**

Thirty minutes had passed, and Konata was absolutely positive she had found every single piece of data inside the room. After safely securing them inside a huge, brown sack she had hidden inside her trench coat, she decided to stroll around for a few moments, to see if there was anything she wanted in here. First there were only a few broken weapons, some random gadgets, and a few computers here and there.

But then her eyes found something , a green button almost hidden in the bland metal walls that covered the whole room. She knew that button could end her life, but her curiosity just wouldn't let it go. That, and she was fairly sure the scientists that worked here wouldn't just leave something dangerous so visible, and even more, in a button. Everyone knows people love to press buttons. Especially blue haired mercenaries with a less-than-healthy curiosity. And so she tip-toed her way to the button, and pressed it just as soon as her tiny fingers could touch it. At first, she was disappointed at the lack of a spectacular something happening, but after a few seconds, a rumbling sound echoed throughout the room, and a metalic hatch opened just a few meters away from her.

"That's awesome! Just like in the movies!" she exclaimed, suddenly happy and very, very interested in what could be hidden down there. She quickly jumped inside whatever was that was waiting for her under the hatch, and was delighted to find another room, illuminated, even, just a few meters under it. Her fall was no less than spectacular, too, with lots of somersaults and complicated jumps involved, even though there was no one but herself to watch her amazing skills.

There was only one thing in the whole room, a huge, metallic case in the left wall, easily besting her size, with nothing written on it. She didn't pause even for a second to ponder about the lights working, or about the lack of things inside the room. She paused for nothing. Already walking, she opened the case and stared in awe, her mouth hanging open. Already in her mind was playing the Open Chest song from The Legend of Zelda.

"I hope they don't miss this beauty here" she said to herself, grinning, as she extended her arms to get that incredible something.

**IoOoI**

It was way past midnight when an exhausted Konata finally collapsed on her bed, eyes closed and limbs sprawled, too tired even for the anime marathon she wanted to watch so much.

"Oh, damn, my head..." she whined, wincing as another imaginary knife buried itself deep into her brain. Even after throwing up quite a lot, that place's smell was still bad enough to cause a mean headache. Carrying that guard all the way to the hospital didn't help, either. She probably broke several rules by making sure that one guard would live, and it was totally worth it.

The look on his face when he opened one of his eyes, aware of his surroundings, and was told he was going to live by the medics, could only be described as pure joy and relief. That had made her day. Well, that and..., she trailed on, looking to her right. There, right next to her high-end computer, inside a special glass case she bought in case she ever got something like this, was the nanosuit she found in the secret room of the Experimental Laboratory.

She was thrilled, not in her wildest dreams she thought she'd have the pleasure, the honor of owning a nanosuit. Even better was the fact that it was not bulky, relying heavily on the protection of the exoskeleton, it was lithe, somewhat light, made specially for flexibility and speed, which fitted the girl perfectly. Oh, the plans were already building up inside her little head. She would spend the next day finding everything she could about how it worked, and how to make it better, it would be awesome.

There was just one, little problem.

Well, two, to be honest.

Problem one, she was not that good with nanotechnology to just crank it up and learn everything in one day. She cursed her laziness towards studying now, though the extra hours she spent watching anime, gaming and honing her magical abilities were certainly useful. And fun. Oh, the things one can do with illusions.

Problem two, she doubted the existence of said suit would remain unknown for much longer, after all, her company has the bad habit of controlling its employees' lives, she would have to be extra careful. Although her other things, both useful and not, were hidden from her company inside her apartment, carefully warded against detection, she couldn't simply waltz around the town with a nanosuit and leave it there. Could she? No, she couldn't. Damn.

She would have to use it, though, very, very soon. Chimera was straying from its path, she could see clearly. It was one a respectable mercenary company, accepting only what many, including herself, considered to be good jobs. But over the years, it started taking more thievery related jobs, and assassination assignments started popping up everywhere. She could clearly remember one or two assignments where she had to help Super Villains, and that was too much. Chimera is now a fallen Mercenary post in the eyes of the heroes, and with reason. She herself had to kill many times. 25, to be exact. And every single life she had to take was enough to break her soul a little. But she didn't stop, she couldn't. The best she could do was remember her victims, and make sure their death was not in vain.

She saw no other alternative, she could see the future of her company, and it was not pretty. She would have to stop it, and soon. But now, she really needed to sleep. Eyes now closed, she could only wait, already anxious about Kira's promise. She really loved their usual ice cream place, Donatello's, and their exotic, although expensive, ice creams. Although the classic ones were her favorites, one can wonder how a tomato ice cream tastes like. Surprisingly good, as they found out the last time they went there.

The buzzing from her communicator took her away from her ice cream fantasies, much to her dismay. Picking it up tiredly, she flipped it open with some trouble, truly expecting to see Kira's face on it. However, no face showed up. The screen was in audio mode, she realized.

"Hello, Konata? Are you there?" came a familiar voice through the gadget, causing alarm in the small girl. Fully awake, with her mind racing, she answered in the most casual tone she could muster at the time.

"Hey, Kagamin. How did you get this number?" Smooth, Konata, real smooth.

"What do you mean? Isn't this your cellphone?" asked a somewhat confused Kagami, wondering why had her friend asked that in the first place.

"Uh...yeah, forget about it," said the girl quickly, trying to make up for her earlier smoothness. Crap, I forgot I programmed the comm to take every call from my cellphone...Ugh, gotta remember the small things. "So, what's up, Kagamin? Missed me?" teased the girl, beginning to feel renewed just from talking to her friend. Maybe she is magical, after all, chuckled the blue-haired girl.

"...Maybe. Anyway, do you have plans for tomorrow?" asked the purple-haired girl, hiding the small smile that appeared on her face from her poor, unaware phone.

"Nothing, wanna hang out?" answered Konata happily, her date with Kira now but forgotten in the bottom of her mind.

"Yeah, have some Ice cream with Tsukasa and Miyuki at Donatello's, 1600, don't be late, kay?"

"Oh, I wouldn't miss it for anything in the world." and she meant it. "Hey, wear something nice, I want my Kagamin to be cute for our date!" cheered the girl, already imagining the blush that would crept her friend's face.

"Cute, huh...We'll see about that. See you there, Konata." and with that she hung the phone, leaving a somewhat confused Konata behind. Maybe she did change a little, thought her. She couldn't know, since she avoided visiting Kagami in the same way she did with her other friends. It didn't feel right to spy on the younger girl like that, and she didn't even understand why.

Closing her eyes again, the exhaustion from the day returning to hit her in the face, she felt like she could sleep for days easily. But tomorrow would be promising, so she would have to make sure she would be awake. Tapping some buttons quickly even with her eyes closed, she managed to program it to wake her up around 1200. Yeah, about right, she thought.

That would leave her with 2 hours to get ready, and about two hours to meet them, which she would need, going to Tokyo and everything.

Right about then she remembered of her appointment with Kira. In the same place.

Ah hell, I will work something out tomorrow. Sleep is more important now, she thought, and with some concentration - and a little bit of meditation to get rid of the unwanted thoughts - the girl slowly drifted into the blissful realm of sleep.

**IoOoI**

Had Writer's block again, and when inspiration finally hit me square in the face like it did in the good ol' times, I just had to write this. From 0000 'til 0644, but I finally finished it. Hell yeah, feels good.

Now, some heavy emotional backlashes in this chapter, with all the killing she had to do, but don't worry, she's still the Konata we all love. With powers. And deadly aim, and now a frickin' sweet nanosuit.

Now, I'd appreciate if you reviewed the story, makes me all happy to know someone actually read it, and it's always nice to hear other people's comments on one's story, no?

Also, sorry for any mistakes in the story, I truly hate them. But they keep appearing! Just like mosquitoes.

EDIT: I decided to take this story out of the Crossover section. The reason, you may ask? Simply because it evolved and mutated from being placed in the middle of DC universe to its own universe, own laws and characters. There may be some references to DC organization or special characters, but they are minor appearances in the story, therefore my making it into a conventional story.

Well, see you in the next chapter!.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own Lucky Star, nor any of its characters and yadda yadda, yadda yadda. You know the drill, I don't own them, but I do manipulate them.**

**IoOoI**

Izumi Konata was more than determined to continue the dream she was currently having. Never one for early mornings - or mornings at all - the slightest thought of going through the routine of waking up was enough to cause a frown to emerge from her face, just as she dodged the strike of a longsword aimed at her neck with a somersault. After all, why would one want to wake up when killing orcs in one's mind-scape was lengths more fun? She could not find a reasonable answer to that question either, so she continued to dodge their never-ceasing blows, and, with whatever momentum was left from her dodging, stick her tiny and pointy dagger with all her might in the beasts' eyes.

Two hundred forty sixth, two hundred forty seventh, counted the nimble girl with a savage grin as the slaughter continued. It was the usual routine she would do whenever she had the chance to become lucid in a dream. She had worked hard to achieve her usual ten or so lucid dreams per month, and, being the hardcore gamer she was, the thought of re-creating the battles she once faced with only her mouse and keyboard was too great to ignore.

Poking an orc's eye away from his bloody skull with a whole-hearted laugh, she started to feel something, something really familiar. Aw, shit!, thought the girl as the dream literally started to fade and crumble, her trustworthy foes slowly turning into dust as the fantasy world around her disappeared in front of her eyes.

Nothing unusual there.

And I was just getting to the good part, whined the girl to no one but her dream-self, not being able to complete the challenged she issued herself. Kill five hundred orcs in a lucid dream with a cheese knife for a weapon was no small task, after all.

Murmuring some things best left in the dark, Konata opened her eyes only to be greeted by an intruding and incredibly shiny ray of sun light.

"Son of a...!", cursed the girl, rubbing her eyes in reflex, her incredibly awesome dream now resting in some dusty old room in the back of her mind.

Taking her time to get through her morning routine, which included some stretches and a quick checking on her memories, just so she wouldn't forget anything incredibly important like, for example, telling Kira they would have some company in the afternoon, she struck a victory pose for the walls in her room in victory, after all, she couldn't remember anything important to do and she felt refreshed, alive, even, albeit hungry.

In dire need to remedy such hunger that plagued her body, she started the tiresome walk towards her kitchen. It was 11 A.M., and the girl could really use a breakfast. Or a breakfeast.

The latter seemed leagues more appealing in the bluenette's mind.

Her already building dreams of a banquet were quickly crushed to dust once she saw her father had not bought much food, especially not the nutritious food, like vegetables, or something that would fill her poor little stomach while giving her body some sort of advantage. Sure, cup noodles were one of the greatest inventions of mankind and everything, but someone in her line of work simply couldn't survive on instantaneous food and snacks. Plus, her cooking expertise allowed the creation of tasty and healthy foods. With bacon. Bacon..., trailed the girl's mind as her hands were making sure her eggs would come out fluffy and delicious and salty, instead of a gray-black matter of smoke and bad smell.

After eating a simple breakfast of scrambled eggs, a bowl of hot and steamy udon and a few pieces of deep-fried tofu, the girl was thoroughly renewed.

Food level: 100 percent! We no longer require minerals, Overlord!, thought the girl, missing dearly the gaming she couldn't quite do as much as she could a couple of years ago.

She risked a glance at one of the many digital clocks in the house and sighed, knowing it was now 12:35 P.M. Funny, I thought I'd programmed my comm to buzz right around 1200, hm? Ah, hell, not that I care, I'm not even tired, thought Konata as she walked the stairs towards her room, really looking forward to whatever time she would be able to spend playing.

**IoOoI**

Donatello's Gelato, with it's quiet ambient, large number of ambitious - although delicious - ice cream flavors, was the perfect place for the girl's reunion. It sports a nice and classic look, with its' black-and-white checked floor, long counter with quite the nice view to the park, it was everything they could ever hope for in an ice cream shop.

Everything in the ambient was designed to cast a comfortable setting, while still maintaining the business-like manner that Japanese stores usually have. That is, if you're not in Akihabara. Usually, the customers would order their ice cream and either sit in the counter or take the relatively small walk across the often busy street, so they could eat peacefully in the park. Today, however, was a fairly busy day for the ice cream shop, and the girls had been waiting in the line for at least twenty minutes, and by the looks of it, it would still take a while for their time to come.

Groaning and rubbing her temples, Kagami was starting to get annoyed. Not only had she been waiting for more than 15 minutes, but the only reason they were all there was late. Very late. Quickly checking her wrist watch for the hundreth time in the last few minutes, she was not surprised to see it was already way over 16:30 P.M., and not a single sight of blue could be seen outside the ice cream boxes. Which, obviously, looked delicious.

"O...Onee-chan?" asked a tiny and shaky voice behind her, which belonged to her younger sister, Hiiragi Tsukasa.

"Yes?" answered the girl, not even bothering with hiding how unhappy she was with the whole situation.

"Well," began the younger twin, "You're clenching your hands so hard they're red.", added the girl, taking utmost care not to upset her sister even more. Even after all this time, Kagami could still be quite scary when she was upset. Like now.

"Huh?" was all Kagami muttered, while checking to see if she indeed was doing that, which she was. With a heavy sigh, she started to mutter a mantra to try and calm down, scaring everyone was not going to help much. Damn you Konata, if you're going to be late at least call us in advance, you stupid blue-haired midget, cursed her thoughts, when, ironically, her cell phone's ring-tone started ringing - loudly - blasting the beginning of Sakura Kiss throughout the place, startling more than a few people and earning her very curious looks.

Especially from Tsukasa and Miyuki.

Tsukasa was giggling, not even trying to hide it, unlike Miyuki, who had clasped her mouth shut, managing to contain everything but a few sneaky and short-lived girly laughs, greatly adding to Kagami's embarrassment. Turning her back to them, she answered her phone with more strength than necessary, eager to stop the humiliating event as soon as possible.

"What is it, Konata?" whispered hurriedly the lilac-haired girl, feeling her ears burning with embarrassment.

"Yo, Kagamin!" came the usually energetic response, somewhat muffled by a strange ambient the train_,_ was all she could think before being interrupted by loud honking sounds. "Sorry for my being late, I will be there in five, maybe ten minutes, okay? Don't kill anyone while I'm away, bye!" said Konata, before hanging up on a somewhat bewildered Kagami.

_Well_, thought the girl before facing what was probably going to be an even more embarrassing sequence of questions about that particular ring-tone, At the very least I will be able to strangle her soon enough.

Shoving the poor unsuspecting cellphone into her black purse once again, she slowly turned, facing her amused and smiling companions. Immediately Kagami knew this was going to be a long, long day.

"Onee-ch-," tried her twin sister, only to be interrupted by an annoyed Kagami.

"Tsukasa, don't. Just...don't, okay?" she asked, once again rubbing her temples. She could use some ice cream right now, some cold would do her wonders. The weather was hot and humid, as it should be in the middle of August. Glancing just another peek at the line, Kagami was satisfied with knowing that in only a few minutes she would be wolfing down blob after blob of ice-cold goodness. Damn Konata and her crazy ideas, she always ends up embarrassing me, even when she's not even near me.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, and a mental battle of epic proportions on whether she would kill the midget at sight or not, Kagami was finally calm again, which made her wonder why was she even mad at the first time. Sure, Konata could annoy the hell out of her in just about every way, but wasn't that one of the facts that she loved about the girl? And it's not like it was the first time it happened, too. Her unusual, sarcastic-dripping commentaries were so unexpected that she just couldn't get bored around her, which is more than what she can say about almost everyone else she meets. Even with her family, the conversation usually withers and they all go back to their merry way, but a conversation was never truly over with Konata. Guess the college is finally getting me, huh, thought her as she ran her hand through her left ponytail, gently caressing it.

"O...e-ch...n," said something, but she wasn't quite sure. Snapping out from her slumber, her first sight was that of her sister looking worriedly at her, frown and everything. A frown would never be suitable on Tsukasa's face, thought Kagami.

"Huh? Sorry, I was distracted." It seems her trying to calm her sister down worked, for the frown disappeared, giving space to her usual bubbly smile.

"I said we're next, Onee-chan."

"Oh?" she murmured, surprised. Just how much time has passed?

Looking at the old woman smiling at her from behind the counter, she was somewhat worried. Konata said she'd be there in 5, 10 minutes at most, but she was quite sure more than 15 minutes passed. Glancing a final peek at the door with a frown she didn't even know was there, she sighed, mentally calming herself. It was definitely her actual life's fault. Definitely. Where the fuck are you, Konata_?, _thought her before giving in to the internal war going inside of her head on what flavors they'd combine and enjoy.

**IoOoI**

Just after finishing her call, Izumi Konata knew she would have to speed up in order do reach her destination in time. That, however, was no challenge for her current vehicle, a black Suzuki Hayabusa GSX-1300R-K9. Effortlessly dodging the many obstacles - A.K.A. the other automobiles - Konata was happy. It had been quite some time since she had last used her little baby, and the feeling the wind hitting her black leather jacket was more than invigorating.

"On." she commanded, and her communicator sprung back to life, now pumping Aya Hirano's _God Knows_ throughout her helmet, making the already nice trip even better. By her calculations, she should be getting close to the Ice Cream Shop, probably 3 minutes or so from there. Even though 3 minutes is quite something when one is driving a motorcycle at 200 km/h while thoroughly ignoring traffic semaphores, loud honks from unsuspecting walkers and even the beautiful sights of the city. As beautiful as a metal and concrete jungle can be, at the very least. And she would continue to ignore everything, had she not seen the familiar flare of a sniper rifle shining on the very top of a corporative building a mile away, followed by a sharp hit on the left side of her helmet.

Damn, she thought, alarmed, suddenly changing directions and causing many cars to brake in a screeching halt, It just had to be today! And in such a beautiful day, too..., she risked a glance upwards, just to see if it was indeed a beautiful day. The skies were still somewhat clear, an unusual sight in August, but the intruding rainy clouds were starting to show up, attempting to fill the blue of the sky with their wet gray. It was, indeed, a beautiful day.

Just not a beautiful day to get killed.

She knew she'd be late by taking another route, but it was the safest thing she could possibly do at that time.

"Kira," she commanded, and after a few seconds the music ceased, and her friend's voice could be heard.

"Yeah, Fox? Still up for that ice cream?" asked Kira, obviously unaware of what was happening.

"No time to explain, sniper targetting me, go to the ice cream shop and search for a lilac-haired girl. You must-", was all Konata had time to say before another shot pierced through her motorcycle's rear tire, sending her flying towards the street. Her beloved motorcycle exploded just a few seconds after, sending piping-hot shrepnel everywhere, injuring more than a few people. In the midst of the chaos the explosion caused, the girl flew straight into the sidewalk, partially destroying everything on her way as she ricochetted towards unconsciousness.

Wave upon wave of excruciating pain shot throughout Konata's body, and yet she could not scream. She could not do anything, except feel the torture that would endure for the the few precious minutes she had before fainting. Even with her faltering eyes and ringing ears, she could see through a red frame the bloody mess that was her body. Sitting painfully on a pool of red, warm blood, her limbs had pieces of twisted metals piercing through, her left leg was twisted in a way that should not be humanly possible and the yellowish white of her bone was sticking through the punctured skin. After a few dozen seconds, the pain just stopped. Her already faltering sight gave way to a cold, comforting darkness, and in her ears all she could hear was a low, dark chuckle that belonged in the farthest domains of her mind. Concern and aprehension flashed for but a second, but she was too tired to maintain them. Pain gone, Konata was free to fall into the realm of unconsciousness.

**IoOoI**

It had been almost twenty minutes after the girls had finished their ice creams, and anger quickly turned into worry. It was not like Konata to disappear like she had, not even leaving a text message, and that truly and deeply scared Kagami, for reasons she was not fully able to understand at the moment. So intense was the despair with which she walked down the streets that every single moment her eyes were not busy blinking, she was searching for something, _anything_ that stroke her eye as a mass of blue. So far, she was unsuccesful, and so were the two girls walking beside her.

"Onee-chan, I'm sure she's alright.", tried Tsukasa, apparently more worried about her sister's state than Konata's.

"She better be!", snapped Kagami suddenly, somewhat scaring the two girls. Unable to do something in order to eliminate the feeling of dread that had built in her stomach, she was turning to the only thing familiar to her in such situations: Anger. "She better be alright, or sweet mother forbid me, I'll kill her myself!" The whole street fell silent at the display of rage from the lilacette, and the burning stares of awe and fear were enough to mush Kagami's rage into a puddle of embarassment. Out of pure instinct she grabbed both Miyuki and Tsukasa's hands and stormed towards no where in particular, face burning in pure awkwardness.

Finally stopping to catch her breath, her aching lungs buring with the same power as her face, Kagami turned to the other girls, unaware of what to do. She first tried to speak, but what jumped from her lips were not her voice, but the ragged, choked sound of nothing._ I don't _even know what to say!_,_ realised Kagami.

"Kagami-san?" asked Miyuki's voice, which, to both Kagami and Tsukasa's surprise, was not at all sounding like her owner had been running for the past ten minutes.

Greedily inhaling a large amount of air, Kagami was relieved to feel the burning sensation that lingered within her body disappear, and answered, "Yes, Miyuki?"

"I know I should have suggested this before, but why don't you call Konata-san one more time, just to be sure?" Damnation, why didn't I think of that?, thought Kagami, angrily.

Not even bothering to answer the girl, she tore her purse open with unnecesarry strength, and snatched her poor cellphone from within its resting chamber. Furiously poking at the screen, she managed to wait a few seconds before having her call answered. Not waiting for the usual greeting, she decided to let Konata feel right now what she was feeling. With every word conceivable.

"Now listen here, you deranged little brat!", spat Kagami at her phone, her anger returning at its maximum, "Last night you even promised me you were going to be there, and not only you never showed up to the damned place, you didn't even warned us you were not coming. I bet you got distracted by some big fucking sale of manga or something, right? You're impossible, Konata! Impossible!"

After her little show of affection, all that remained was for the other girl to apologise. And then she would get mad at her again, and tomorrow they would go back to being best friends, and even though such an event would probably happen again in the near future, Kagami would still be happy. However, it was not Konata's voice that answered her monologue. Unless she had a sex operation just after calling her at the Ice cream shop.

"Uhm, are you a relative of Ms. Izumi's?" came a raspy, obviously male voice.

First the color drained from her face's skin, which amused her sister to no end. Then, it became a raging crimson tornado.

"Umh...errr...", _Oh, sweet lord, did I call the wrong person? Heavens forbid I'm wrong, heavens forbid, _thought the embarassed girl, "I...No, I'm...not.", answered the lilac-haired girl, finally remembering how to properly speak Japanese. "I'm a friend of hers, why?"

"Uhm...this is Dr. Shijimura, from the Tokyo University Hospital. Ms. Izumi had a motorcycle accident, could you tell her relatives to come to the hospital? She's not in grave danger, but is under surgery right...Hello? Hello?", he tried, now hearing the familiar sound of a dead line.

Kagami's face was pale, ghostly, even. Her hands were trembling furiously, and in her mind raced the dance of thoughts, each one more morbidly terrible than the other. Sensing the difference in both her face and attitude, Miyuki tried to ask in a calm, controlled voice: "Kagami-san? Is something amiss?"

If it was seconds or minutes after that when she finally regained her voice, Kagami didn't know, nor did she care. Stricken with fear for Konata's well being, and guilt for lashing over at Konata, even without really knowing what happened, Kagami felt a dark, dooming hand crushing her chest._ So this is what true guilt feels like_, she thought, pained. Placing a hand on her left breast as if to strike away the feeling, Kagami turned her white and terrified face towards Miyuki.

"She's...she's at the hospital, she...suffered a motorcycle accident.", she managed to say with a strained voice. The images of Konata's fate flashing in the back of her mind were enough to cause such sensations. Her words flew towards the two girls and hit them like bricks, leaving them in almost the same state as she was. No more words were muttered between the three girls as they started to run, madly, as if there were Hellhounds pursuing them.

Unaware to them, a shadowy figure kept their distance equal, following them through the shadows, mimicking their path. As a ray of light illuminated the figure's short, brownish hair, she could only imagine what the heck happened to her partner and friend.

Her thoughts and theories alone made her match her targets' despair in her running.

**IoOoI**

Konata woke up in a dark, fogged place. A soggy gray mist was lazily creeping through what she could only describe as a park. Tall,wild patches of brownish grass ran in the entirety of the field, their size only outmatched by the numerous trees, their limbs blackened and twisted. They had died long ago, Konata realised, as she started walking. A red, eerily light was being cast from up above, and with a quick inspection she discovered that the source of said light were two huge, crimson moons that sat above the skies, as if dutifully watching over her. Strange relief washed throughout her body, and Konata, renewed, started to explore her strange surroundings.

She did not remember how she had gotten there, nor did she remember ever seeing such a strange place before. Sure, she had seen her share of unusual sights, but what laid before her eyes was not only unusual, but slightly magical. She didn't need much effort to feel the very air cracking with surges of magical power. That place had probably seen its share of powerful sorcery, thought the bluenette. Yet, despite her earlier relief, the more she walked, the more a deep, dreadful sense of forebonding fell upon her, filling her with aprehension. What if the power cackling through the air was not from a battle staged eons ago, as such things usually happened, but from recent dabblings in the realm of magic? She herself knew a few rituals that would keep a place tainted with the touch of raw power for at least a week. Yet said rituals didn't come without a price, and the smell of blood or meat was not to be found.

Despite the deep sense of wrongness the place emanated, she could not help but get curious as to what truly happened here. And so she continued to walk, following the trail of mana as a child would follow a rainbow, in hopes of finding a golden chest in the very end. Minutes passed, and with each step her vision became more foggy. The trees were already distorted signs upon the brown horizon, black bastions of nothingness that her eyes could not define. Something was indeed very wrong, here. Had the layers of magic confused her senses, somehow? Could this be intended? She was confused, and yet, her cat-like curiosity burned inside her chest with almost divine determination. Fiery eyes ablaze with willpower, she continued, straight into the trap laid ahead of her.

As more minutes passed, Konata had started to smell the coppery, bitter taste of fresh blood. So there was a ritual, thought her darkly. Her senses sharpened, she crouched, if but a bit, now moving stealthily through the tall patches of brownish grass, trusting her sensitive nose to get her to their final destination. And get her it did, for not after a few dozen seconds, the camps of grass ended, and she was left to stare at what could have been a village not long ago.

About six houses were spread into a tight circle around a single, well kept pool. The houses, however, were not so well kept. Every single one of them was destroyed beyond reparation, a few of them missing their roofs, some had cracked and throughout broken walls, but all of them were burning with the same feverish green fire, its' flames licking lazily above of them.

"Sorcerous fire." she muttered darkly to herself. Such destruction magic was long ago deeply used by the unruly and cruel witches, who did not care for her protection, or for the others. There was always a price for using such chaotic magic, and one word chanted wrong could cause the very fabrics of reality to bend and twist into madness, releasing long forgotten abominations into the world.

How come I couldn't see this before, thought Konata, confused. The flames were tall and obviously dangerous, and yet no smoke rose from them. But she could at least have seen from the grasses. As she turned to inspect if she was indeed right, she was left gaping with the knowledge that there was no grass around her. Everything beyond the small ruined village was completely swalloed by thick and leafy trees, standing so high they pierced the clouds themselves.

"What the...", murmured the girl, starting to truly feel fear. Such a setting was unknown for the girl, and yet, deep in her chest, she could not help but feel somethin _ familiar _around her. Whatever that something was, it was feeling her with dread, and she did not like it.

"Tsc, tsc, little fox.", sang a low, feminine voice sweet like honey and poisoned like a scorpion's stinger behind her. Just hearing it made the girl cringe visibly, thougths of pure madness slowly creeping into her brain. Slowly and carefully, Konata turned widened eyes towards the source. There, sitting with her back supported by the well, was a woman in her twenties, voluptuous body covered by the pure strands of darkness falling from a beautifully lethal face. Her eyes were ablaze with the same flames that slowly consumed everything around her, and her savage grin showed enough teeth to unsettle even the most weathered warrior. Her beautiful brown skin was corrupted to the very core with madness and evil, with black veins running throughout her entire body. "Have you already forgotten me, after everything we've been through?" sang the daemon once again, and every word that was spilled from her mouth was like a distant thunder, shaking the very air with power.

At the sight of the daemon, realisation dawned unto Konata. It was a dream, it had to be!, thought the girl, grimly. Knowing what it was, however, didn't make it any better.

"...Nagaira.", was all Konata could say, carefully binding her body together. Any move and she could be killed in the spot so easily it wouldn't even require the Daemon's effort. "How did you escape your prison? I checked the wards last week, they were still actively binding you within."

"Indeed they were, little fox.", she began, her feral, wolfish grin growing ever so slightly. "But not anymore. I will not be so foolish as to fall into the same trap twice, you know?" Konata cringed. Now is when she kills me and parties with my skin, thougth Konata.

The woman laughed, and the very air was ripped from itself, twisting the very essence of order and slowly, but surely, sucking it into a pitch-black vortex above in the skies, covering entirely the light casted by the twin moons. Everything around the mercenary was now bound into complete darkness, and the only things she could see was her nemesis' white, sharp fangs.

"I told you," the voice began, now sounding from behind the girl, as soft fingers touched the back of her neck so softly she could barely feel it. "I'd be back." whispered the daemon right into Konata's left ear, her voice being enough to make cast waves upon waves of shivering cold through her body. Slowly, she could see or hear no more, but she could feel the presence of the Daemon settling it's nest inside her body. Every second _something _brushed the bones of her ribcage, and she could just imagine the smile on the spirit's face.

"H...How...?" managed the blue-haired girl between a pained gasp, as she grasped her left breast, as if to try and shy away the spirit possessing her.

"Hmm.", moaned the daemon from within her own body, "Your little accident today damaged the runes carved on your back." she said, matter-of-factly.

Accident? What accident, thought Konata. "What are you talk...ing." she began, but a sharp pain filled her head as the most recent memories rushed in, making themselves seen. Ah, she understood, That accident.

"Indeed. Speaking of which, you do know who was trying to kill you, don't you? 'twas not as if they were trying very hard to conceil their origins, too."

The implications of her words hit Konata hard. So it was true!, thougth her, angrily. Had her company finally found a reason to get rid of her? If so, they had probably recorded everything she said on her communicator. Then, a deep sense of despair crept into her heart. If they recorded everything, they would know of Kagami, and her ties. They would also know that Kira was helping her behind their back, and it wasn't good. She had to wake up, and very soon!

The daemon chuckled, somewhat amused, and _something_ slid inside her chest, as if there were iron chains tying both her bones and organs together, and the chain was Nagaira. "I could lend you a bit of my strength, little one. Just a simple touch of my gifts, and you could wake up in less than an hour, the damage undone to you body.", she offered.

"No!", roared Konata, her will power flaring brightly against the darkness. "This is my dream, and I command it!", her voice sang, full of power of her own. "And I sure as hell don't need you to help me live my life, Nagaira.", spat the mercenary with unusual spite, which in turn just increased Nagaira's chuckle. "So you say, little fox. But we both know that soon you will turn to my power.", her voice rang somewhere in the back of her mind as the world around her began to fade and crumble. "Just as you did in the past.", she said again, ominously, and the words were stuck in Konata's head as she was thrown into reality.

**IoOoI**

Konata woke up panting and sweating, hearing startled gasps all around her. Yet her eyes were still hazy and unfocused, and all she could make of what was around her is that it was white.

Eye-hurting white.

She tried to move, but her body was hurting all over, so she decided to lay down - and close her eyes - and try to process all the information she acquired in her dreams. Had she been a sane, normal person, she'd dismiss it as being one of her subconscious' jokes, but she was neither. When one dabbles enough in the realms of magic, their understanding of the world around them changes. She knew, deep inside, that the daemon had, in fact, been released. The severe burning pain in her back was only the supporting idea. Minutes crawled, slowly, as her mind raced with hundreds of thougths. But first things first.

Gingerly opening her eyes, she was glad to be able to see anything. Surveying her room for a while, she was not only shocked to see several bandages and stitches on her limbs, but also from seeing four_ very _familiar faces watching her, eyes burning with expectative.

Both Miyuki and Tsukasa had worried, troubled looks on their faces, and were cutely holding hands, finding support in each other, as Konata imagined. Next was Kira, standing by the door, with the wall supporting her back. She too had a somewhat troubled expression on her face, which somehow amused the blue-haired girl, but was more concerned about the door and the windows. Probably looking for anything that wasn't right, thought Konata, feeling quite safe.

Then her eyes were upon the teary face of a scared Hiiragi Kagami. Her face was covered from the mess her crying created on the makeup, but someone could mistake it for a surrealistic painting. Black and red mixing into a uniform pink stained the lilac-haired girl's pretty face, and even though Konata would probably laugh it off with a joke, had it been in another setting, now the only thing was stare deep into her friend's face, huge, dry emeralds looking upon wet sapphires.

After a few seconds of awkward staring, Kagami literally threw herself into Konata's lithe frame, causing her whole body to jerk away at the pain. Realising she was hurting the already hurt girl, the crying girl gingerly eased her weight, and hugged the smaller form beneath her.

"You dummy!", she cried, worry washing away with relief, "You could have died! What would we do if you went and died like that?", she managed between loud sniffs.

Konata was at an utter, complete loss. What should I do?, panicked the girl. Had it been an assassin with a shotgun pointed straight to her face, she'd at the very least know what to do. But never before she had a crying friend hugging her because she nearly died. Carefully, as if any swift movement would break her hugging friend, she returned the hug, gently patting Kagami's back now and then.

At some point between all of this, Tsukasa and Miyuki had gone up, and were now standing right beside Kagami. Tsukasa's right hand was sitting securely on top of Kagami's head, as if to lend her sister much needed strength, and Miyuki was still holding Tsukasa's left hand, lending her girlfriend strength of her own. Konata had to fight down the urge to just scream about how moe the two of them were.

Minutes passed without a single word was spoken between the girls, and after what seemed an eternity, Kagami moved away, cleaning her face with a pink handkerchief that reminded her of Miyuki. One inquiring glance between the pink haired girl and said folded cloth was enough for Miyuki to nod. It was indeed Miyuki's.

"Well", began Konata, trying to find the right words, "This was not how I imagined my perfect day.", she finished, giving everyone a warm smile. Everyone - including Kira - relaxed a bit, seeing that Konata was in fact quite alright. "At least you've brought me delicious Ice Cream, right? Kagamin?", she asked, expectantly.

Oh, how quickly she could change from teary-eyed goddess to angry demonette, thougth Konata with a grin on her face. To avoid being killed at last, she raised her hands, completely ignoring the pain and the wild look one of the medics gave her as he walked through the halls. "Just kidding, just kidding!", she finished, wearing one of her cat-like smiles.

Tension and aprehension gone, the three girls used their time together - however wrong a setting it was - to talk about their lives. Or rather, Konata inquiring every single one of them about unnecessary details, especially about Tsukasa and Miyuki's relationship. She wanted, after all, to know all the juicy details. Who in their right mind wouldn't?, justified the girl.

The hours passed, and one by one her friends had to leave, for one reason or another. It was already late in the night, and only Kira remained, her expression now somber.

Giving the windows one last look, Kira closed the door behind her, and walked lazily until she was sitting on the edge of Konata's bed. "So, will you tell me what happened?", asked the girl, truly concerned and curious.

"Well", began Konata with a sigh. How would she tell it to her?

"Well?"

"First choose. Bad news, or Even worst news?", Konata asked, grinning.

"Eh, I'll bite. Bad news, hit me.", answered Kira, mentally preparing herself for whatever could have happened to her little co-worker.

"Well, my would-be assassin is from Chimera. It seems the bosses finally got tired from my never-ending sense of humor.", she said, trying to cast some light on the situation.

Needless to say, Kira was shocked.

"What? How do you- How could they-Argh!", she mumbled, confused.

"Let's just say I'm pretty sure it's from Chimera and leave it at that, eh. The second news kind of answers this.", said Konata, grimly.

"...It gets worse? Aw hell, now what, there's a daemon on the loose?", she asked, half-kidding.

"Woah, pretty good, Kira! Didn't knew you were training your detective skills.", praised Konata, truly amazed. "Now guess which one is it?"

"Wait, there is a daemon?", her question was answered with a nod. Kira groaned, sighing loudly. " Just please tell me it isn't..."

"Yeap, it's Nagaira alright."

"Goddamn. Can we trap her again? I mean, it was hard enough on the first time, but surely you have another awesome magic trick on your sleeve, right? Right?", Oh, how I wanted to, Kira. Really did.

"Sorry, it seems she's not falling again for that trick. I'll just have to cope with her when the time comes. For now, it seems she's still weakened from the spells, but who knows what will happen tomorrow.", murmured Konata, while she moved against the bed, trying to find a comfortable position. "We'll have to be on the lookout, Kira. They will target you, too, and probably even Kagami.", said the girl, her voice trailing a bit.

"And how do you know all that?", she asked, truly curious.

"Ah, easy. I used to be on the other end of this situation, eh?" Bitter memories showered Konata's mind, but she did not move an inch.

"Ah, I see. What will you do, then?", said Kira, looking intensely at Konata's face.

She gave the best grin she managed, and showed her friend a thumbs-up.

"What else? I'm going to destroy them", she said, and laughed a bit at how stupid that sounded.

However stupid her plan was, however, it was the only viable plan her mind could muster, and thus, would have to be followed.

It just would be hard as hell to do so.

**IoOoI**

Well, I sure took my time with this chapter. Had another major writer's block, but managed to dish out the final 4000 thousand words in one night, so I'm pretty satisfied. Okay, I'm not completely happy with how the chapter turned out to be. It started as one thing, and then changed completely from the end, and however I look upon it, I feel I could have done better, had I had the time. And then I remember I had all the time I needed to do so and then some, and even still I didn't do it. I'm just like that, eh.

Anyways, story is picking up, and soon an explanation as to how the magic works will be done. As I've said, this world has mutated a bit from the original DC counterpart, but some characters from the DCU may appear to make their cameo.

Anyways, good reading, hope you like the chapter, and review!

P.S.: Extra lengthy chapter, yey! Sorry for any typo inside that jungle, eh.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Lucky Star, nor do I own the legal right to write about them. To hell with that, I say. **

Well, it certainly has been a long while, huh? Worry not, I'm getting more into the habit of writing now, and new chapters -probably-shouldn't take that long to appear. Now, you'll notice the story has started to gear into life, eh? Let's see how this will turn out. Without further ado, then, onward with the story.

**IoOoI**

Konata usually liked nights. Colder, darker, and overall nicer than the light-kissed days, it was just the way she liked. Of course, the fact that most of her gaming sessions were held in the wee hours of the morning helped, as well. Sometimes she would just open her windows and stare at the skies, admiring the bright moon, or gazing at the eternal veil of stars and constellations. Yes, Konata usually liked nights. This one, however, she did not like.

On that particular night, the usually dark and mysterious moon had been replaced by an incandescent globe of the most scarlet she had ever seen. It spun and twisted in a way that shouldn't be possible, folding into itself and shifting with each minute. The radiated flames that emanated from the stars trailed languidly until they kissed the earth, licking the soil in a gesture of fire and death. Black, gnarly trees danced in the ungodly light, as if it was the most joyous day they had ever faced. Limbs contorted and extended in leafless fingers that tried to reach for the scarlet orb, moving in adoration against the massive clouds of ash and sulfur. And as they moved towards the blazing globe, mouths carved deep within the wood appeared, painting the red of blood in a grin so sinister it scared the stars away. Beyond the fire, there was only void, and despair. The grass withered beneath the gnarly branches, and the few animals that could be seen were either dead or dying.

Against the impressionist painting of red, black and green, a shifting mass of blue stood her ground, glowing brightly against the radiated light of the star. Nude, tanned skin was covered by a sea of ocean hair, and green trailed from the girl's eyes as they darted around the landscape. She knew where she was, and she should not be scared. Dreams were meant to be wonderful experiences, especially if controlled, she would think.

But she was scared, because her hair was standing up since she regained her senses inside her own psyche. She was scared, because she was not alone, and she was dreaming. Konata knew what happened when she dreamt. She knew oh-so well.

Bracing herself against the inevitable, the mass of blue and light mocha faced the clouds of death and blazes. Running tiny steps against the light, she noticed with relief that the temperature stayed the same, no matter how close she actually got to the star. Which, let's be honest, wasn't closer at all. After what seemed like an hour of exhausting running, the mercenary realized a fact she did not like one bit: she hadn't moved at all! Still around her were the dancing trees and the languid waves. Still in the epicentre of the maddening chaos that was her mind.

As the seconds passed, she could feel the temperature dropping. The air, before warm and humid, was now cold and dry, and the chill of the night seemed to penetrate her very bones, shaking her to the core. The pseudo-sun stopped moving and folding, instead retreating all the light it emanated back into itself. In mere seconds, the dark was once again dark, and all the macabre life that came with it ended as well. No more were the trees moving to the dance of death. Konata didn't know whether that was good or bad. Given the implications, she quickly deduced it was, in fact, terrible.

"Mmh," moaned a darkly feminine voice against her ears, practically rubbing against her skin, so solid and real it was. The soft and seductive tone caused goosebumps to jump through her back, and it seemed to roam through all the space, only to return and hit her in the face. "I always enjoyed your dreams, little fox. They are so...creative."

Even though Konata knew she would appear sooner or later, the effect didn't lessen one bit. "Nagaira." was all that spilled from the bluenette's lips.

Another moan completely filled with contempt brushed against her left ear, and so powerful were the feelings that travelled with it that Konata couldn't help but feel them herself.

"You know, little one, I was so bored in that prison of runes you gave me for birthday. There was absolutely nothing to do in there. Even decorating that small, private place inside your mind grew tiring as the months passed.

"So, I began planning. What I would do to you, once freedom was again mine to take. Ah, little fox, the wonderful games we'd play. I had it all planned, you see. First..." her voice trailed, sweet honey inside her brain. A gust of cold wind turned her ocean-blue locks of hair into a disorganized mess, and the girl just knew the Daemon was right there, behind there.

And even knowing that, her eyes still widened when she turned to look at Nagaira's naked form, just a few feet from her. Darkness once again shifted around the daemoness, as if glued to her skin, causing her most private parts to be covered slightly by a thin sheet of the very night. Her eyes were not as intense as they were on the last time they'd seen each other, but the green flames still burned on her face. Lips curved into a maddening grin that threatened to leave her face, Nagaira moved her hands in a slowly fashion, and her limbs danced gracefully until her digits were resting against Konata's cheek. The gesture was overly gentle, and it quite frankly scared the mercenary. In the past, the daemon was not rude or completely evil, but her touch had never been so...compassionate, docile. _Maybe all that time inside my head rubbed her in the right way._

As if reading her mind, the grin grew even more, showing many rows of really sharp fangs. "You would like that, wouldn't you? Big, meanie me turned good just after a couple of years imprisoned in your cute little head." Slowly, laughter rumbled and filled her head, nullifying her thoughts so completely that she could only stare at the black-haired daemon.

Taking her hands away from Konata's cheeks, she stared deep inside the other girl's eyes, as if trying do decipher her very soul. "Even after all those years, little one, I still can't figure out much of what you do. I've seen other daemons with minds less chaotic than yours, and it amuses me. I'm sure you also know of that, non?" Her already sexy voice became even sexier with the use of French. _Goddamned daemons, I want to do that too!, _whined Konata's mind.

"Not so hard, really. Takes a few human months to learn, and then, you just have to be able to blend it nicely with the way you speak.

"But let's not forget why I'm here, hm? What are you planning to do now, little one?"

"I...I'm not sure, Nagaira." And she wasn't. Truly, she knew her final objective, but had no idea how to get there. Chimera was a very powerful agency filled to the brim with deadly agents. That, and there was the issue of the other elite agents. The regulars, she could handle, but Konata had never seen the other four elite working. She had no idea how they operated. A plan was needed to take them out of the game. "I'm going to speak with Kira today, see if she has any ideas. I do have a plan...something, but it's crazy. Even for me." As she spoke, Konata felt something really weird irking her somewhere in the back of her insane mind. Were she and Nagaira just having a casual conversation about her destroying a company?

"Why wouldn't we? I don't want to antagonize you. At least not now. You're no good for me dead. And if you don't succeed..." The implication was clear. "And isn't it fun? A little...quality time between friends." Konata didn't buy it.

The wind suddenly shifted, and after a hard gust of air, it completely stopped. Ruining trees started to disintegrate together with the landscape, and the organic matter flew towards the cracking orb. In the middle of said destruction was Nagaira, standing still, and smiling at the blue-haired girl. Blowing Konata a kiss and waving good-bye, the daemoness, too, disintegrated, melded with the remains of her dream.

Konata awoke with a start, panting. The memories of the dream were settling inside her head, and the confusion was eminent. _What the heck happened there?_

After a few seconds of heavy breathing, Konata was stable once again. Normal thoughts and logical conclusions – as normal and logical as the girl could muster – were running across her neurons, and she allowed herself a moment to fully take what was happening around her. The hospital room didn't change a bit in the seven days she stayed there, except from the flowers and delicious chocolates left in a table beside her bed by her friends. Kira, too, didn't change. She was still awake, even if it was but six in the morning—or something like that, Konata wasn't sure. The brunette's face sported deep, dark bags under her eyes, and she looked more tired than Konata had seen her in six years. That worried her, in more ways than one.

Locking eyes with her friend and partner, Konata voiced her concerns. "Kira, you should get some rest. You look like shit. Or worse."

"Love you too, Fox. But really, don't worry, we've had worse before. How is the leg?"

"Really better. I think it's healed enough for me to kick your ass!" answered Konata cheerfully, while moving and kicking the mattress covering her lithe body with her injured leg. Kira seemed satisfied when her partner's face didn't show discomfort or pain. Nodding to herself, the brunette moved towards the bed, brushing a lock of deep blue hair away from the patient's face. "Get better soon, Fox." It was touching, really. Konata was about to smile warmly when Kira finished her sentence. "I'm sick of this antiseptic ambient. I swear, another week of white and I'll paint myself black just for the hell of it."

Blewing her a raspberry, Konata was quick to get up. She had to agree, though, that much white was just sickening. Maybe a bit of blue here, green there and black around that wall to her right would do the trick. Storing those thoughts for later, the girl risked a few workout moves with her legs and arms.

No pain whatsoever. _Good._

"How many so far?" The question itself was very clear on Kira's ears. How many had tried to find and terminate them. Konata was sure the other girl had quite a bit of trouble with them.

"Six attempts at all. For two weeks, that's really good. All amateurs, too, so no problem. Good thing they underestimate us, eh, Fox?"

She was wrong. They weren't underestimating anyone. In fact, she was sure there was a bounty on her head, and the big players were just waiting for the perfect moment to make a move, if it ever appeared. Only the new mercenaries were so quick to throw themselves at something they didn't understand. But Kira did not need to know that. It would only take away her confidence and prepare. She was just not ready for the elite yet. Maybe never would.

"Yeah, we're lucky, huh?" The lie was so smooth Konata herself almost believed it. A huge grin on the recipient's face was all the bluenette needed to know her bluff had worked.

"What about Nagaira, Fox? Has she told you what she wants this time?" Curious brown eyes met confused blue orbs. "Seems she didn't, huh?"

"She's...confusing, Kira. She did appear in the dream again, but she was all gentle and stuff. It was kind of scary, but in a good way, you know?"

"Yeah...no, I don't."

With a sigh, Konata started to gesture madly with her hands, fully knowing the other girl couldn't understand anything her digits were trying to convey, but not caring the slightest. "You know she was not that bad, before. Not like those other daemons, that would try to rip my soul apart at every moment.

"But she's not completely good, either. Hell, who is, anyway? I know what she wants, Kira. What she always wanted."

The brunette's face was almost shining with expectation. "And what is it?"

"She wants to live," answered Konata, with a small smile that shocked even herself.

**IoOoI**

"And so, she asked the teacher why was the Industrial Revolution so important _after _the second explanation, and Ms. Sakaki threatened to toss her notebook at the girl for asking such a stupid question. Which she did, anyway! Man, I never thought History would be so fun," laughed Kagami as she finished her fifth tale about her college life, proving that even without Nanako Kuroi, history classes could be amusing. Konata herself laughed quite a bit at that. Not that she was interested in the slightest about the Industrial Revolution, or how it served as base for the French and American ones. No, and she definitely wasn't interested on the second, or even third Industrial Revolution. But it was her Kagamin speaking, that alone made it interesting.

And thus the mercenary proceeded in her staring at Kagami's face for nearly two minutes, creating the Domino effect better known as blush. The longer Konata gazed upon those huge, deep blue orbs, the hotter the recipient's face got.

Such interaction was not lost by Kira, who was watching the two with a very amused face. Of all Konata's friends, Kagami was the one she found most course, the fact that she was also the one who was there most of the time might have helped a little, but nevertheless, Kagami Hiiragi was interesting.

"Konata!" The awkwardly voiced scream took Konata out of her stupor, leaving her with a confused, cat-like face.

"Wha, Kagamin? Something wrong?"

The lilac-haired girl turned her body away from Konata, placing both her hands on her hips._ Kagamin's on the "annoyed" stance! She might use her scolding powers on me!_, thought Konata, as amused – or even more – as Kira with her friend's antics. Predicting the girl's reaction, Konata stuck her hands forward, while ducking as if to make herself smaller. And cuter.

"Wah, Kagami-sama is mad at me! Please don't punish me, Master!" screamed Konata, loud enough for a few nurses to turn their heads at the couple. As soon as the words left her mouth, Kagami's hands were shutting it. Her eyes were bulging and her face burned crimson. _Now I know why father wanted so much to have a camera built on his eyes._

"K...Konata! You're impossible!" Her whispers made it all more sweet for Konata, whose grin was so big it threatened to rip off her face and stand as another individual being. Kissing the trapper's fingers lightly, her mouth was finally free again to tease and conquer. And tease she did.

"What's the matter, Ka-ga-min?" Asked Konata, sweetness falling from her voice like honey. "Don't you like my kisses?"

Kagami's mouth opened, and a "yes" threatened to emerge, but the gaping maws were quick to imprison the fugitive truth. Instead, she opted for the second best course of action. She turned her face away and stared at the wall as if it would grow limbs and start knitting a scarf.

Seeing her best friend's discomfort, Konata decided to call it quits. She could always tease her again later, after all. Facing Kira, Konata's right eyebrow wiggled two times, and the brunette was quick to leave the room, confusing Kagami.

"What? Something happened, Konata?", asked Kagami, while pointing at the door with her right thumb.

"Dunno, but if it's important she'll tell me later." The blue-haired girl jumped out of the bed a few seconds later, deeply startling her friend, who jumped like a scaredy cat, grasping her right breast.

"Konata!", said Kagami, a bit breathless. "Don't you scare me like that again, you damn midget you. And how the heck are you standing? You were supposed to be in bed for another two weeks!"

"Two weeks? Really?" That was unexpected. _Why didn't I remember that?,_ thought Konata, a bit confused._ Oh well, doesn't matter now._

The college student could only stare at how Konata's mouth formed a confused circular design. As amusing as it was, though, there were more pressing matters. Like the hospitalized girl who just jumped out of her bed like a deranged, slightly insane ballerina. "This is serious, Konata, you shouldn't work your leg too hard. You could strain it or open the wound or...something."

"Well," started Konata with a warm smile. "Let's just be glad you have such expertise with medical situations, huh, Kagami? I'm sure "something" would happen if I kept walking, alright." She paused for a minute, and then the smile turned itself into a smirk. "Unless you'd like to examine me, nurse Kagamin?" To top the performance, she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

At that exact moment, a raven-haired nurse appeared, probably to see why one of her patients had suddenly leaped out of her resting place. "Ma'am, are you alright? You're supposed to be on rest for two more weeks."

Scratching the back of her head, Konata gave her a lopsided grin. "Don't worry, I heal pretty fast. See?" She jumped a few times, as if to prove her point. The nurse appeared to be impressed. Never before she had seen someone shrug off an injury such as hers in such a small period of time. "It does seems you're quite fine, but don't push yourself, Ma'am. Muscle and bone injuries are serious, and can cause some serious pain."

"Oh, don't worry, I can deal with pain."

"...If you say so. If you'll excuse me—Sir? Sir! You're not supposed to do that!", trailed the nurse, as she ran to check on another patient's physical – and mental - health. Giving Kagami a thumbs-up, Konata exclaimed a "Victory" and twirled in the air, much like a Japanese RPG character would. Kagami did only watch, a familiar warmth resting on her face. Storing the thoughts she had of what and why, she felt herself grinning as well. That girl's zany demeanour was intoxicating, and it radiated to other people, she could just feel the happiness oozing from the blue-haired girl.

_'They are here, little fox,' _rang a very familiar and seductive voice inside Konata's head. Though the voice now had a very disguised sense of urgency. '_While you were flirting with that girl of yours, they managed to sneak in a couple of agents inside the hospital. What will you do, I wonder?' _

"Damn, it had to be now? And I was having such fun, too," whined Konata, as she tried to find something she could use as a weapon on her surroundings. Just a few roses, a book, and a confused Kagamin. Nothing effective against armed agents. An annoyed sigh left her mouth as she started to pace around the room, formulating a plan.

"Konata? Something wrong?", asked Kagami, concerned. Her friend's sudden mood changes were not unheard, but to see Konata pacing, looking thoughtful? That was concern-inducing, and would probably be fuel for nightmares later.

_I'm so screwed,_ thought Konata. She couldn't think of a way to properly defend herself – and Kagami – without revealing to the lilac-haired girl who she really was. She even had the event all planned, too. Slowly throwing hints at the girl, until she could realize herself there was something different with her, then she'd introduce slowly the true meaning of being a Mercenary to her friend, and finally, she'd tell her of her job. Her life. Herself. And then, to tell her she was currently possessed by a powerful interdimensional daemon who wanted a body of her own would be easy peasy.

"No, no, nothing's wrong, Kagamin, nothing's wrong...," muttered Konata as she ran several scenarious on her head. None were so good for herself. She quickly decided that planning wouldn't do her any good now. When in danger, her instincts were _almost _always right, and they were probably her best choice of action right now.

"Kagamin?"

"Mmh, yeah?"

"Look into my eyes," said Konata without a single hint of deception. She was not asking, Kagami realized, but ordering. Strangely enough, she felt compelled to obey.

After a few seconds, she decided she didn't just want to obey, she _needed_ too. Like her eyes would get pulled towards the other girl's, as if they had a gravitational field that was attracting hers. Finally, her sight rested on the other girl's emerald spheres, and there they watched a show being unravelled. Kagami felt as if her mind was sucked out of her body, and was being forced to pass through a dimensional gate. Dozens of strange images filled her head with each second, and a slow, lullaby-like voice sang deep within her mind, stirring her eyes. They felt heavy, and that bed seemed so comfortable right now that she could just sleep her whole life in there. Her members were so tired, Kagami almost wasn't able to force her legs to work. But they did, and soon her body was engulfed by the covers and the pillows. In seconds, she was asleep, leaving a satisfied Konata behind.

Although she didn't like to abuse of magic any more than needed, it was the first thought that ran through her mind, and as such, was the first to be chosen. But things would never be the same between them, and Konata knew it. Kagami would remember the event, even if as a dream. But right now she had greater threats.

"Nagaira," she commanded, and sure enough, that strange, steely sensation around her ribcage moved. "Can you feel them? Where they are?"

_'Of course I can, little one. Two presences outside of your room, broadcasting killing intentions and plans to everyone in the vicinity to read? It would be almost impossible for me not to pick on those fools.'_

"Damn, already here? What's taking Kira so long?"

_'Who knows, maybe she had to go to the bathroom,'_ joked Nagaira, remark filled with humor and sarcasm.

_Well,_ began Konata in her mind, as she worked one quick stretch before the action began, _I hope they have a very good health insurance._

**IoOoI**

"I'm telling you, ma'am, I'm perfectly fine," stated Takamura Hiro for the fourteenth time in fourteen days. After waking up at the hospital with just a few bullet scrapes on both his arms and legs, and a single bullet that tore through his left hand, he was more than well enough to go home. The doctors and nurses had another, completely different opinion. Say what you might, but when you're hospitalized, they'll test you for everything. _Everything._ Hiro even had tried to defend his integrity against an intruding colonoscopy during his first week there, but the doctor would only have it his way. And his way it happened.

After two weeks, his left hand was still immobilized, recovering. But he longed for his wife's food more than anything in this world—and really, who wouldn't after two weeks of hospital grub? It tasted as good as it seemed, and let me tell you, it didn't look good.

"Sure you are, Mr. Takamura, but you still have another week before complete healing. You don't want to risk your health, do you? Especially with the kind of job you have." The nurse's voice was so bland it threatened to blend itself with the wall and elevator music playing somewhere on the corridor. Outside of his room, the talk was heated, it seemed so lively, so...different from his current antiseptic white cage.

Heaving a heavy and annoyed sigh, the security guard ran a hand through his greying hair, trying to cook something—anything to take him out of his insane boredom. "Can I take a walk, then? Ten minutes tops." He pleaded with sincerity. His limbs were, after all, screaming for a release of energy. That, and the slight possibility of escape allured him to no end.

"Mmh...", moaned the nurse, pensative. She knew that question very well. "Can I have a walk and try to get the hell away from here?" was the correct translation to that. Her patients asked that often, and it was hard to pry the woman away from the rules. _But he really seems well enough, maybe..._, her mind trailed, and in her psyche, she knew that the decision was already made. Only the words were needed now. "Okay, Mr. Takamura, but only a few minutes, yes?" Her voice had that oozing tingle of someone who knew too much, and it carried a light tone as well. Terminating their endeavour with a wink or two, she quickly left to check her other patients, the one who would stay there for a while.

"Well", began Hiro, slightly confused but deeply grateful. "I'll be damned."

Laughing heartily as he went, the guard quickly collected everything he would need and swiftly opened the door, closing it with a full-hearted smile. He could just smell his wife's meal now, it would only take another hour. _So close...!_

That was about when Takamura noticed that the corridors themselves were oddly silent. And empty. His merry trotting slowed to a careful walk, not wanting to make any unnecessary sounds. He knew, from experience, that when something got this silent, shit was about to happen. Either that, or someone's birthday, but he knew that wasn't the case. Too big for everyone to suddenly disappear. Creeping carefully through the inhabited maze, the middle-aged man had his ears strained, looking for any signs of trouble.

He was, at the very least, disappointed to have found it.

Ten meters to his left, a door was open—broken, as if someone or something had forced his or their entry. From inside, the somewhat-muffled, but still loud and extremely distinct sound of silenced guns flaring to life could be heard. _Shit!_, he thought, as his reflexes kicked before his rational mind, and Takamura Hiro found himself running to the place. When he finally got to the door, a man's voice could be heard, whimpering, pleading. He could only wonder what had happened there, when the voice's owner flew through the door and into the wall, cracking it with the sheer strength of the flight. From the corner of his eye, he could very well see a very sturdy-looking black combat boot sticking from the door, as if checking its work.

Gulping loudly, his mind flooded with a very deep sense of Dejá-vu radiating from those boots, Hiro took the few steps that separated him from the door, trembling.

Inside the room, he could see, a tangling mass of deep ocean blue covering the floor. Lithe hands moved fast on the body of a fallen man, picking things from his many pockets and quickly tossing them aside. A quick glance, and the man understood what she was doing. She was stripping the incapacitated man of his weaponry. Still confused as to how that little thing incapacitated two grown men- probably assassins, he voiced his curiosity to the mass of hair and limbs.

"Are...uhm, are you okay, Ma'am?" His voice sounded tired, oh-so tired. _I really am getting too old for this shit,_ thought the security guard.

The girl stood, giving the Chimera merenary a final regard before shifting her attention to her visitor, and when curious green met hesitating brown, both man and girl froze in place. The silence was so thick Konata herself would have trouble cutting it down. Heaving a sigh, one of the long ones, the mercenary motioned for him to sit on the floor, where she herself was sitting. "I guess we're due to a little talk, huh?" The understatement of the century.

The man nodded, suddenly very somber, as very recent memories washed over his shock-filled brain. Silence, intruding as it were, once again found a way to dominate the void, making a certain girl fidget and play with her hands, uncomfortable.

"So...," began the girl, obviously tired of the intruder's presence. "You probably want to know who I am." The man nodded, expression almost unreadable. There were obvious spots painted on his face: Anger. Apprehension. A bit of Fear to mix everything together in a cocktail of emotions.

She pondered, for a moment. Should she tell him her given name, or just her title? Trust, she felt, could be placed upon that man. _Don't do it,_ rang a fearful voice in the very back of her mind. Paranoia, as she often called it. _He will ruin everything!_

Heh, not like there was much to ruin on the first place. With her future course of action, her future life would already be ruined. If it wasn't already. Kicking her insecure self to whatever dimension she came from, she decided on just following her instincts.

"My name is Izumi Konata. And you are Takamura Hiro, yeah?" Another nod. "Then, Hiro," she began, not caring the slightest for honorifics. "Do you know of Chimera?"

"You mean the Mercenary Agency?" Her turn to nod. "Yeah, I know of them. You one of them?"

"You could say that. I am "Fox". Does that title ring any bell? "

Hiro seemed pensive. He _had_ heard something about that title before, but couldn't for the life of him to remember what. "No, can't remember anything useful. Why? Is it important?"

The sound of her laughter filled the room, shocking the man a bit. He had never seen such a young individual laughing in such a sad manner. He felt like the walls themselves were wailing in her pain. "You could say that. But it's best if you don't know about it. Makes both of our lives easier, hm?"

Konata looked at him with sad, though cold eyes. He shuddered visibly.

"Listen...," she trailed, searching for the right words. _Simple is Better, right. Right?_

_Right,_ answered the daemonic woman inside her chest, though her tone was more tuned to light mockery than helping offer.

"I'm sorry, for that day. I truly am. I could ha—could have spared their lives. I know that. And I didn't. And I'm sorry and-" At that exact moment, Kira's figure appeared through the door, dusting her clothes with her hands.

"Whew! Sorry for the wait, Fox, was busy with three other agen-" the brunette froze when she saw they were not alone. "Three other _agencies!_ Travelling agencies! They never seem to leave you alone, eh? Ha-ha!"

Konata tried to hide her barely contained laughter, but she couldn't, and the heart-warming melody sprung into life, filling the room, and yet again surprising Hiro. It seemed he would never get used to the mercenary's mood changes.

"Kira!", she breathed through hearty laughted. "You're too much!"

To say the recipient was embarrassed was an understatement. Red rose to meet brown, creating a very interesting mixture on her friend's pretty face. Even Hiro was laughing—more like breathing hard through a smirk- at the young girl's failed attempt of deceitfulness.

If that hadn't served to ease the room's tension, nothing ever would.

The three of them talked—discussed with each other for more thirty minutes, none noticing when the Hospital sprung to life again, the missing doctors and nurses already running through the corridors again. The same way they didn't notice the rather small commotion of the mercenaries being found unconscious right outside their room. Just a few minutes later, the place was swarming with police officers, questioning and prodding at everything that moved for questions and answers. More than a few nodded their acknowledgements toward both Konata and Hiro—which, again, surprised the man. It seemed today was Surprise-A-Hiro-day throughout Japan.

A good dozen of minutes passed before they were left alone again, the police having found nothing substantial that proved the mercenaries guilt. Though they had found out they had threatened to kill any passing staff member, which explained the eerily silence Hiro had not heard earlier. The three of them were talking, again, as if old friends, when a tired moan shifted the bed covers. Indigo eyes blinked to awareness as Kagami's sleep-drunk mind tried to understand what was going on around her._ There was Konata. Okay, nothing wrong with that. Mmh. Kira is there, too. Why are they looking at me like that?Wait. Who is that guy? Why was the door dangling from the room?_ A few seconds after, Kagami knew she'd have the mother of all headaches if she tried to analyze just the heck had happened while she was out. She, however, felt a bit uncomfortable when Konata's eyes met her gaze.

_I knew it, _thought Konata sadly. Nothing would ever be the same again.

"Uugh", tried Kagami tentatively, still not trusting her own vocal cords to produce anything barely coherent. She felt like complete and utter shit. Like a marching troupe of singing hippopotamus had tap danced all over her body and then some. It took the girl a few minutes to collect her whole self together, but when she did, she found out—really, it wasn't that much of a surprise to her—a full chest of questions to be asked. Pointing rather boldly at the first thing to be asked, she spoke.

"Konata, who is that man?" The curiosity in her voice was a tad drowned by annoyance. Kagami had never quite enjoyed waking up the way she did. Though when she gave the guard a good look, she quickly found out the answer she was looking for. "Hey, you're that security guard from...Wayne Enterprises, right? The one that was rescued from that massacre?" Konata winced visibly at the words, and Hiro noticed it. He understood, after getting to know the mercenary, that she really felt bad for the incident. And though he couldn't quite forgive her yet, she seemed a rather nice person to be with. Not to mention gratitude for having his life spared.

"Yes. I've met your friend a while ago, but don't worry, I'm already leaving." Standing as he finished, he gave the blue-haired girl a couple of pats in the head. "Stay out of trouble, you hear me?" were his parting words, for a few seconds later, the man was engulfed by the hospital-traffic. Kagami could but dare imagine what had passed in the few crazy hours of sleep she had. Hours.

Suddenly, the lilacette jumped from the bed, her face a pallid ghost of what it once was. Cursing loudly, she kissed Konata's forehead and waved her hand at Kira, muttering loudly at how late she was and how her mother would be mad at her. After Kagami Typhoon left the room, Kira shot Konata's red-tainted face a very amused look.

"So," trailed Kira for a few seconds. "I believe someone has something to tell me, hm, hm?" She nudged the younger girl a few times with her right elbow, winking playfully at her teammate.

"Maybe. But that's ephemeral. For the Future. If we have one." The blue-haired girl was unusually somber, especially after suffering teasing from one of her best friends. That alone was enough to darken her co-worker's face considerably.

"Kira. I must ask you something."

"Anything, Fox." She meant it. The smaller girl had done for her so much, she felt that even a lifetime of slavery wouldn't pay her debts.

"Will you protect Kagami and the others, for me?" Her penetrating eyes set chills on Kira's spine, and she wasn't sure what to feel. The sheer determination seemed to radiate from Konata's orbs.

The brunette, needless to say, was quite shocked. "But...you can't do it alone!"

"I know."

"It's impossible!"

"It is."

"Then why, Fox, Why?" Tears threatened to spill from the woman's round, soft eyes. She was afraid of losing her friend and co-worker. And given the chances, losing her was almost inevitable.

"Because...", she trailed, flexing her limbs. A plan was already in set within her mind, and she would have to start very soon, before the company started to send the heavy-hitters. The Elite. "Because they need you more than I do." Giving her companion a brief smile and a wave of hands, Konata ran towards the door—and ultimately the Hospital's exit, her parting words being: "Be Safe, all of you."

**IoOoI**

Whew! So, will Konata try the Loaner road, or will she gather help along the way? What will happen with all the girls? Will there be delicious, moist cake at the end of their journey? Who knows. Not even I do, to be completely honest. The story is such a living being, it hits me in the face when it wants to be written, and screams at my muse, which in turn screams at me the general directions to go. Don't believe me? Well, tough. Anyway, rate and review! I do love reading reviews. So informative!


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